Ganesh Nagarsekar’s Post

One of the reasons we share the most recent research report as a sample is that we want you to understand not only our research depth and report style but our timing and contrarian value approach as well! Our latest report is on a proxy to infra growth in India + Capacity doubled in FY24 + Margins ramp driven by improved efficiencies + Management guide of 30%+ volume growth in Q4 + Sub 15x valuation You can read it here: http://bit.ly/gsnsample

Power of the ballot! Nestle India had proposed increasing the royalty the Indian entity pays out from 4.5% to 5.25%. Investors have struck down the resolution. Your vote is powerful - exercise it where you can!

PVR is the absolute boss of Indian movie distribution. It controls just 18% of the screens in India but has a 42% market share in Hindi box office collections and a whopping 59% in English box office collections! But instead of going on the aggressive like you would expect a market leader to do PVR is actively de-risking. Reducing Financial Leverage: PVR has been consistently reducing debt over the last year. They plan to further reduce net debt by 50% over the next 12-15 months with a mix of free cash from the business and 300-400cr asset monetization. Reducing Operating Leverage: PVR now plans to move towards a developer-fitted, company-operated model that will increase revenue share outflow to the developers but reduce capex per screen by 30-35% over the next few years. Slowing net screen growth: They have also brought net screen addition to just around 3%, with a 7% gross addition, and a 4% closure of old screens. The screen closures, typically theaters in older malls with lower footfalls have remained high after the Inox acquisition. Even this growth is going to be focussed on the South Indian market where single screens still dominate. More diversified business: The business is also partnering with Devyani Foods for food courts in malls, to get a more pre-ticketing F&B revenue which comes in irrespective of how movies do. They start this year with 5-6 food courts in FY25. Whether this move is a sign of the times to come in the physical movie distribution business, or PVR playing the waiting game as peers like Carnival struggle with debt and restructuring, only time will tell! But it certainly makes for an interesting case to track! Disc: This is not a recommendation, please consult a SEBI Reg professional or do your own diligence before taking any investment decision.

Greatness is often sacrificed at the altar of downside protection. RBI denied two genuinely deserving people the Kotak CEO post to maintain 'independence'. Almost anyone who was tracking the bank would have expected either Shanti Ekambaram or KVS Manian, both of whom had built the bank from the ground up, to take charge post Uday Kotak. It is very hard for A-type individuals who are more competent & have built from the ground up to play second fiddle to an outsider. As a shareholder I'm disappointed to see him leave, but I understand the decision 100%. No reco.

The champs and duds of the Indian wedding proxy market👰 Gold, Silk Sarees, and Sherwanis are strong proxy plays to the flourishing wedding market in India. As the earnings season continues, we see how top players in this space have performed. Gold: Gold players continue to hit it out of the park with the continued growth of organized players. While Titan grew its jewellery business 18%, smaller players like Kalyan were able to grow at 34%. Caratlane, Titan's omnichannel jewellery platform continues to lead growth for Titan growing at a stellar 30%! Silk Sarees: While not quite hitting it out of the park, listed silk saree retailer Sai Silks reported a decent improvement in same-store sales growth to 6% and a topline growth of 11%. The business recently ventured into silver jewellery retailing and has a strong store growth trajectory lined up in the affluent Tamil Nadu market, making it a business to watch out for in the coming year. Sherwanis: Leading male wedding apparel player Manyavar continued to struggle, as competition in the space heats up, and it continues to operate at super-normal 65%+ gross margins. Same-store sales declined 3.3% in the quarter and 10.3% in the year. Notable the management attributed the slowdown to lower weddings and muted consumer sentiments. As organized competition begins to heat up in the space, the business will likely have to take an important call on the tradeoff between margins and growth. Disc: The post is for educational purposes and is NOT intended as investment advice. Please consult a SEBI Registered professional before taking any investment decision. May onboarding for my Investment Recommendation offering (SEBI Registered) has now begun. Links in the first comment.

Emerging themes from Q4 results - Financialization hitting it out of the park! Indian assets are getting financialized at an incredible pace, and this combined with a raging bull market is bringing in money by the boatloads for Asset Managers, Wealth Managers, and brokerages Anand Rathi Wealth focussed on HNI wealth grew AUM by 55% and PAT by 33%. The firm is growing both its relationship manager base to cater to more clients with a 13% growth in RMs over the last year. Angel One a leading broker in the country reported a 63% growth in revenue and a 27% growth in PAT. The business that generates a bulk of its revenue from F&O broking benefited from the 2.4x+ growth in its F&O ADTO over the last year. HDFC AMC, the behemoth on the AMC playground reported a 36% growth in AUM and a 44% increase in PAT. Fun fact, the investment income that the business generated this year (578cr) could almost cover all of the operating expenses of the business (684cr). Financialization of savings is incidentally one of the nine key themes driving my investment recommendations. You can read more about the offering via the links in the comments & also sign up to read our latest research report as a sample!