Production Capacity Will Reach 100 Million Tonnes, Increasing Steel Outputs

Key Takeaways

• Significant CapEx to boost production capacity aims to drive revenue growth, while improved logistics and partnerships enhance sales volumes and earnings.
  
• Focus on dispatch capacities and multimodal transport enhances efficiency, with blending facility expansion and land acquisition boosting future steel production margins.
  
• Uncertainty in royalty rates, logistics challenges, and reliance on favorable regulations may affect NMDC's profitability and revenue amidst execution complexity and market fluctuations.

Catalysts

Explores for and produces iron ore in India.

• NMDC plans significant CapEx of approximately ₹70,000 crores over the next 5 to 6 years to increase production capacity to 100 million tonnes, which is expected to drive future revenue growth.
  
• The company has recently overcome logistical challenges through new vendor partnerships and increased rig availability, aiming to achieve higher sales volumes, which should positively impact earnings.
  
• NMDC's focus on improving dispatch capacities and flexibility in multimodal transportation is expected to enhance operational efficiency, potentially leading to better net margins.
  
• The company is targeting significant growth in production, expecting to achieve 53 million tonnes in the next financial year and 60 million tonnes by FY '27, which would support robust revenue growth.
  
• Expansion in blending and pelletization facilities, along with strategic acquisition of land for future developments, indicates a forward-looking approach to capture higher margins and increase steel production outputs.

NMDC Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming NMDC's revenue will grow by 6.7% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 25.9% today to 28.2% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach ₹86.4 billion (and earnings per share of ₹8.88) by about September 2028, up from ₹65.4 billion today. However, there is some disagreement amongst the analysts with the more bearish ones expecting earnings as low as ₹69.7 billion.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 11.2x on those 2028 earnings, up from 10.0x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the IN Metals and Mining industry at 23.6x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to decline by 0.09% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 13.73%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

NMDC Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• The uncertainty surrounding the potential increase in royalty rates in Karnataka could significantly impact NMDC's profitability, thereby affecting net margins.
  
• The challenges with rig and dispatch availability, as well as logistical bottlenecks, are hindering sales volumes, which could ultimately impact revenue.
  
• NMDC's ambitious ₹70,000 crore CapEx plan and the associated increase in execution complexity and risk could affect net margins if costs are not managed effectively.
  
• The dependence on favorable regulatory outcomes and government decisions, such as land acquisition and environmental clearances, introduces risk factors that could impact revenue growth.
  
• Fluctuations in global iron ore prices due to international market dynamics could impact NMDC's revenue and earnings if prices decline.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of ₹75.176 for NMDC based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of ₹91.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just ₹60.0.
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be ₹306.8 billion, earnings will come to ₹86.4 billion, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 11.2x, assuming you use a discount rate of 13.7%.
• Given the current share price of ₹74.28, the analyst price target of ₹75.18 is 1.2% higher. The relatively low difference between the current share price and the analyst consensus price target indicates that they believe on average, the company is fairly priced.
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.