Tag: Escorts

Escorts shares up after company names Shenu Agarwal as interim CEO of Agri Machinery Business

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Shares of Escorts Ltd rose as much as 2 percent on Tuesday amid an overall rebound in the market, after the company appointed Shenu Agarwal as the interim CEO of Agri Machinery Business.

Shares of Escorts ended 2.27percent higher at Rs 1,516,90 on the BSE.

The company on Tuesday informed the exchanges that Ajay Mandhar had resigned from his position of Chief Executive Officer – Agri Machinery Business.

“We would like to inform you that Mr. Ajay Mandhar vide his email dated June 20, 2022 has tendered his resignation from the post of Chief Executive Officer, Agri Machinery Business, citing personal reasons and requested, inter alia, for acceptance of his resignation which has been accepted,” said Escorts Kubota, formerly Escorts, in an exchange filing.

Shenu Agarwal, President, Agri Machinery and Construction Equipment Business, will be the interim CEO till a successor is finalised, said the company.

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In May, a senior company official had told CNBC-TV18 that the firm had lined up a capital expenditure of up to Rs 400 crore for the ongoing fiscal for new product introduction and creation of production capacity for the same.

The company, which has started exporting electric tractors to markets like the US and Europe, expects it to contribute up to 15 percent of its overall overseas shipments in the next five to six years.

Following a sell-off that lasted for six sessions in a row, the market today ended in the green with the Sensex up 1.81 percent and the Nifty up 1.88 percent.

Catch up on all LIVE stock market updates here.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Escorts changes name to Escorts Kubota as Japan firm raises stake though open offer

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Farm machinery and construction equipment major Escorts Ltd on Thursday said it has received requisite approvals for the name change of the company from Escorts Ltd to Escorts Kubota Ltd with effect from June 9, 2022.

The name change comes in the wake of Japan’s Kubota Corporation increasing its stake in Escorts to 44.8 percent by subscribing to new equity shares and through an open offer to the public shareholders of Escorts.

Kubota has increased its equity stake in Escorts to 44.8 percent by subscribing to new equity shares and through an open offer to the public shareholders of Escorts and also becoming a joint promoter of the company along with existing promoters, the Nanda family, whose shareholding in the company remains unchanged, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

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Nikhil Nanda continues to be the chairman and managing director of the company.

Escorts and Kubota Corporation, Japan had decided to strengthen their partnership aligned to their vision of global leadership in farm mechanization and spreading farming prosperity, it added.

In December last year, shareholders of Escorts Ltd approved the preferential allotment of nearly 94 lakh shares to Japan’s Kubota Corporation.

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According to Nikhil Nanda, CMD, Escorts Kubota Ltd, “Our partnership with Kubota in Escorts Kubota Ltd has been welcomed by all our stakeholders and investors. Consequently, the process was completed smoothly. We are now well poised at a very interesting time in global history to contribute at much higher levels to India and the world’s quest for food security, sustainable agriculture and smart agriculture.

Yuichi Kitao, president and representative director, Kubota, Japan, said, “We are very pleased to partner with Escorts Kubota Limited at a time when we can combine our strengths to provide advanced farm mechanisation solutions to address global food security & enhanced farm productivity needs.”

Shares of Escorts Ltd ended at Rs 1,579.75, down by Rs 17.75, or 1.11 percent on the BSE.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Escorts lines up Rs 400 cr capex for FY23; eyes higher exports of electric tractors in 5-6 yrs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Farm machinery and construction equipment major Escorts Ltd has lined up a capex of up to Rs 400 crore for the ongoing fiscal for new product introduction and creation of production capacity for the same, according to a senior company official.

The company, which has started exporting electric tractors to markets like the US and Europe, expects it to contribute up to 15 percent of its overall overseas shipments in the next five to six years.

“Capex right now, our initial estimate will be about Rs 350 to Rs 400 crore (for FY23) mainly in both capex on the manufacturing side as well as on the product side,” Escorts Ltd Group CFO Bharat Madan told PTI when asked about the company’s investment plans for 2022-23.

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This, he said, will be for the creation of production capacity for the new products that the company is introducing for which it doesn’t have the capacity in the existing lines.

“So, we need capacity for that,” Madan said.

“But right now, we are in the process of doing this mid-term business plan, which is likely to be ready by September-October. After that, we’ll have more clarity (on the) industrial roadmap going forward and how the investments will happen in the next two years.”

Apart from creating the capacity line for the new products, the capex will also cover vendor capacity expansion, which the company is doing with its suppliers, where their capacity for the existing component is restricted.

“As the domestic volume goes up and exports go up, we need to expand the vendors’ capacities also. We need some investment in the tooling, etc, which is also part of the capex programme,” Madan added.

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Overall, he said, the company currently has an annual production capacity of up to 1.7 lakh units at a group level and that is enough to take care of for the “next two to three years”.

Commenting on exports of electric tractors, Madan said, “We have been exporting now. It has very good demand. We are exporting now. That is one of the focus areas for Kubota (the new promoters of Escorts) also and they are keen to invest into that segment”.

On the potential of electric tractor exports, he said, “Our overall exports today are only 7,000 to 8,000 tractors. We may be looking at 30,000 to 40,000 tractor exports in the next five to six years. We’re targeting that electric should be a large segment in that and at least we’ll have 10 to 15 percent number coming from electric tractors”.

Madan said some electric tractors have also been exported to Kubota for testing and they have good demand now coming from the US, which is large orders and right now in the process of getting executed.

At present, he said, the only constraint is on the battery side as all batteries are coming from China.

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“We are trying to localise those lithium-ion batteries. The localisation will lead to cost savings and the constraint will get addressed. That is a process which is ongoing right now and may take a few months. When that is done then the India capacity should be sorted out. Then we can look at larger volumes in terms of export,” he added.

The company is looking to outsource to a third party supplier for the batteries in India.

About the introduction of electric tractors in India, he said, “Cost is too high for the domestic market. So, I don’t think farmers are ready. The infrastructure is not there, and second, the cost is still prohibitive”.

Stating that once the localisation happens it will bring down costs and give the company the ability to launch in the domestic market, Madan said, “We have the approval for the domestic laws, but we are back due to the issues (cost and infrastructure).”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lower sales impact Escorts’ net income, profit for the fourth quarter falls 28% to Rs 190 million

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Farm machinery and construction equipment major Escorts Ltd on Friday reported a 28.42 percent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 189.98 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2022, impacted by lower sales.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 265.41 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, Escorts said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,878.51 crore as against Rs 2,228.75 crore in the year-ago period. For the quarter ended March 2022, tractor volumes were at 21,895 units, down 32.8 percent as against 32,588 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

Construction equipment sales in the fourth quarter were at 1,286 units, down 19.8 percent from 1,604 units earlier. For the fiscal ended March 31, 2022, Escorts said its consolidated net profit was at Rs 735.61 crore as compared to Rs 871.63 crore in the previous fiscal, down 15.6 percent.

Also read: Union Bank of India’s fourth-quarter earnings increased by 8% to Rs 1,440 crore

Revenue from operations for FY22 came in at Rs 7,238.43 crore as compared to Rs 7,014.42 crore in FY21. Escorts Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Nikhil Nanda said the farm sector is seeing some positive tailwinds.

“With prediction of a normal monsoon and good news on crop prices and production, we hope this sector will continue to flourish,” he said, adding the construction and railway sectors have also shown signs of improvement. With government spending focused on these sectors, the situation shall only improve from here, Nanda added.

However, he said, “Continued inflation is a big cause of worry, both in terms of suppressing potential demand as well as for ecosystem profitability.” Escorts said its Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of 70 percent, at Rs 7 per share of face value Rs 10 for the financial year 2021-22.

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In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Bharat Madan, Group CFO of Escorts said, “Indication of early monsoon is positive. Sowing will start early, so actually you will see very good numbers coming in the month of May and June so the first quarter will likely be better.”

He added, “We expect the industry should actually grow this year compared to last.”

-With PTI inputs

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala sells 3.57% stake in Escorts; stock dips 3.8%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Escorts reported in an exchange filing on April 12 that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had tendered 3.57 percent equity, or 47,19,362 of his shares of the firm, which probably resulted in the company’s stock settling 3.79 percent lower.

As of December 31, 2021, Jhunjhunwala held 5.68 percent stake, or 75 lakh equity shares, in the tractor manufacturing company, sources said. His name is now missing from the list of individual shareholders, who own 1 percent or more, Escorts’s shareholding pattern for Q4 FY22 shows, Moneycontrol.com reported.

This means that Jhunjhunwala, who has held the stock since December 2015, booked profit during the January-March period, the website added.

Also read: Escorts, TCS, Adani Green, Tata Motors and more: Key stocks that moved the most on April 12

The stock has been under pressure as its price has fallen over 17 percent in the past five days. The stock touched an intraday low of Rs 1,543 and intraday high of Rs 1,607.45.  .

Last month, it was reported that Kubota Corporation had revised the opening and closing dates for tendering of shares for its open offer for Escorts Ltd to acquire an additional 28.42 percent stake from public shareholders.

Under the revised schedule, the date of commencement of the tendering period of the open offer has been fixed at March 14, 2022, and the closure of the same on March 28, 2022, said an intimation by Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt Ltd, the manager of the offer, filed on BSE by Escorts Ltd.

Also read: Rural story not playing out for tractor industry, expect low single-digit growth: Ashwin Patil, LKP Securities

According to the earlier schedule, the date of commencement of the tendering period was fixed at January 11, 2022, and the closure on January 24, 2022.

April 11 was the last date to communicate the acceptance or rejection and payment completion of consideration or equity shares’ refund to the shareholders.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Escorts jumps 6%, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland up 2%; here’s why auto stocks rose in trade today

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Shares of automobile companies rose on Tuesday with Escorts, Tube Investments, Bharat Forge, and Eicher Motors gaining up to 6.6 percent in an otherwise volatile market.

The sectoral index Nifty Auto jumped as much as 1.2 percent intraday with 13 out of 15 scrips in the pack in the green.

The rally comes on a day Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) reported a 7 percent hike in retail auto sales in India on a year-on-year basis in FY22. However, domestic passenger vehicle retail sales in March declined by 4.87 percent to 2,71,358 units as compared to the same month last year.

“Passenger vehicles continue to see high demand and long waiting periods as semiconductor availability still remains a challenge, even though supplies slightly improved from previous month,” FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said. He added that the Russia-Ukraine war and China lockdown will further dent supplies and hit vehicle deliveries.

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Two-wheeler sales declined by 4.02 percent to 11,57,681 units last month, as compared to 12,06,191 units in the year-ago period. “The two-wheeler segment was already a non performer due to rural distress. It saw further dampening due to rise in vehicle ownership cost coupled with rising fuel cost,” Gulati stated.

Commercial vehicle sales were up 14.91 percent to 77,938 units, as compared to 67,828 units in March last year. Three-wheeler sales were also up 26.61 percent to 48,284 units last month, as compared to 38,135 units in March 2021.

Following the development, Tata Motors shares closed 2.3 percent higher at Rs 457.30 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Bajaj Auto shares jumped more than a percent to Rs 3,804.15.

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Ashok Leyland shares surged 2 percent to close at Rs 123.45 while Hero MotoCorp’s stock rose 0.7 percent to settle at Rs 2,328.

Commenting on auto sales, global brokerage JPMorgan said M&M outgrows peers across categories and remains its top picks along with Ashok Leyland. Ashok Leyland will benefit from CV recovery and market share uptick in M&HCVs, the brokerage said.

Catch stock market highlights on CNBCTV18.com’s 

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Wednesday’s top brokerage calls: Emami, IndiaMart, ONGC and Escorts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Kubota Corporation revises tendering period of open offer for Escorts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Japan’s Kubota Corporation has revised the opening and closing dates for tendering of shares for its open offer for Escorts Ltd to acquire an additional 28.42 percent stake from public shareholders.

Under the revised schedule, the date of commencement of the tendering period of the open offer has been fixed on March 14, 2022, and the closure of the same on March 28, 2022, said an intimation by Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt Ltd, the manager of the offer, filed on BSE by Escorts Ltd.

According to the earlier schedule, the date of commencement of the tendering period was fixed on January 11, 2022, and the closure on January 24, 2022.

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“The original schedule of activities were indicative (prepared on the basis of timelines provided under the SEBI (SAST) Regulations) and were subject to receipt of relevant approvals from various statutory/regulatory authorities,” the filing said.

Under the open offer, Kubota Corporation is making a cash offer to acquire up to 3.75 crore fully paid-up equity shares of face value Rs 10 each at a price of Rs, 2,000 per share representing 28.42 percent of the expanded voting share capital.

In November last year, Escorts Ltd and Kubota Corporation had announced a multi-structured deal under which the Japanese partner would acquire an additional 5.9 percent stake in the Indian firm for Rs 1,872.74 crore, paving the way for the latter to become a majority stakeholder for which it could invest close to Rs 10,000 crore.

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In December last year, shareholders of Escorts Ltd had approved preferential allotment of nearly 94 crore shares to Kubota, as a part of the deal allowing it to become a joint promoter in Escorts.

Under the revised schedule, the last date for upward revision of the offer price and/or the offer size is March 10, 2022. It was originally slated for January 7, 2022.

As per the filing, the last date of communicating the rejection/ acceptance and completion of payment of consideration or refund of equity shares to the shareholders of Escorts is now April 20, 2022, revised from February 15, 2022.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow