Bharat Forge shares hit 52-week high on ₹1,000 cr investment in Tamil Nadu

Shares of Bharat Forge surged as much as 3.1% to hit a 52-week high of ₹1,257.35 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday after the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government for investing ₹1,000 crore in the state.

The scrip closed 1.17% higher at ₹1,272. This is in line with the broader BSE Sensex which closed 30.99 points or 0.04% higher at 71,386.21. The company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹59,211.11 crore with 47,569 shares exchanging hands on the BSE, as against the two-week average of 0.35 lakh shares. The company hit a 52-week low of ₹744 on April 10 last year.

In the past one month, three months and a year, the counter has given 8.73%, 18.22% and 45% in returns, respectively. In the year-to-date period, the counter has given 2.61% in returns.

"We wish to inform that the Company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Guidance, the Nodal Agency of Government of Tamil Nadu on January 08, 2024, as part of the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024, for investing up to Rs 1,000 Crores over a 5- year period to expand our manufacturing footprint in Tamil Nadu," the company says in a statement.

According to Bharat Forge, the MoU is non-binding and at present does not have a material impact on the company's operations.

Notably, apart from Bharat Forge, several other companies such as JSW Steel, Tata Electronics, South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai India, Vietnamese automobile manufacturer Vinfast, and two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motors amongst others, have committed an investment worth ₹6.64 lakh crore in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, Bharat Forge is reportedly planning an investment of ₹20,000 crore in the next two years as part of its expansion plan. According to a CNBCTV18 report, the company will be focusing on defence, industrial business and aerospace as part of its expansion plan.

The company is yet to announce its December quarter results for the fiscal year 2023-24. In the July to September period, the company reported an increase in net profit by 29% year-on-year to ₹346 crore as against ₹268.1 crore in the same period last year. Notably, in August last year, the company bagged an order worth ₹850 crore from friendly countries for the supply of components and armoured vehicle chassis, through its subsidiary Kalyani Strategic Systems.

Analysts at research firm Geojit BNP Paribas had earlier said it expects the company’s revenue to grow by 18% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) over FY23-25E. “We expect the margin to remain resilient due to growth in the defence & auto sectors and informed stable performance across domestic and export markets, with new business to be accretive going forward. Amid the global disturbance, demand visibility appears to be strong on a medium to long-term basis,” said the research firm.

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