Page Ind hits record high on strong growth outlook; stock up 17% in July

The company aims at capacity expansion and increased infrastructure and facilities to meet growth in demand.

Shares of Page Industries hit a record high of Rs 47,001, after they gained nearly 2 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade. The stock of garments and apparels maker rallied 17 per cent so far in the month of July, on hopes of strong growth outlook. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 4.7 per cent during the same period. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 46,705 that it had touched on April 26, 2022.

The growth in organized retail provided a larger opportunity for branded play like Page Industries. The company is exclusive licensee of JOCKEY International Inc. (USA) to manufacture, distribute, and market JOCKEY brands in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Maldives, Bhutan, and the UAE. Page Industries is also the exclusive licensee of Speedo International in India.

An uptick in consumer consumption and increase in fashion or brand consciousness is making consumers more aspirational and discerning. Going foward, the company expects that the growing urban women population and women corporate workforce are better growth opportunities.

"As the pandemic-led lockdowns are gradually easing out, we expect the opening of malls to bring back large format department Stores as a channel of significance. The new or first time consumers acquired by the brand during the pandemic in categories such as athleisure will provide a base for growth," said Page Industries in FY22 annual report.

Going ahead, the company aims at capacity expansion with increased infrastructure and facilities. This will allow scalability and ramp up of incremental machinery and manpower to meet expected demand growth. Besides that, the company has also significantly expanded their presence by opening several exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) along with large format stores, multi brand outlets, thereby, ensuring brand availability and accessibility across the country.

That said, Page Industries has expanded their MBO network by more than 60 per cent during the pandemic and added close to 55,000 outlets with current MBO network of around 1,15,000 outlets. Many newer outlets, which are less than a year old are also expected to contribute to higher sales, which would provide thrust to volumes and revenue growth.

Meanwhile, Page Industries is scheduled to announce their April-June quarter (Q1FY23) earnings on August 11, 2022, along with the declaration of first interim dividend.

Analysts at ICICI Securities anticipate the company to report revenue growth of 147 per cent year-on-year (YoY) (on a benign base due to impact of Covid-19 in Q1FY22) to Rs 1,239 crore in Q1FY23E, driven by strong demand for its products and distribution reach (three-year CAGR: 14 per cent). That apart, volumes are expected to increase 113 per cent YoY, whereas, realisation is expected to be higher by 16 per cent (due to price hikes taken in FY22 and change in product mix).

That apart, the brokerage firm expects EBITDA margins to improve tp 22.2 per cent in Q1FY23 from 6.8 per cent (low base due to impact of pandemic) in Q1FY22. “Subsequently, we expect Page to report a net profit of Rs 190 crore versus Rs 11 crore in Q1FY22 (net profit of Rs 191 crore in Q4FY22),” analysts said in a result preview.