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With the Sensex having run past 15,500 to give us almost a 100% return over the past three months, bullishness is well set among large investors, especially institutional investors. They just have to buy India at any cost, even when the Sensex P/E is 17, which is in an overvalued zone given the historical trends; Indian GDP growth is just about 5% and the global economy will contract 3% this year, according to the World Bank.
But an overvalued market can keep rising on hopes of higher growth and the brute power of money. Indeed, in the mania of 1994, when portfolio investment by foreigners in the Indian capital market started, the Sensex P/E had touched 25. Second-guessing a herd of stampeding bulls is a sure way to get trampled over. In such a situation, the best course is to track stock prices or the index over a range and see whether the range breaks. As of now, 15,000 is the short-term line on the sands for the Sensex. A crack below that could mean a 1,000-1,500-point decline.
Global economic trends, which will determine the attitude towards risky assets, continue to be highly confusing. Take US interest rates and inflation. An array of top minds is convinced that the incredible increase in money circulation has to end up in higher inflation and interest rates. Legendary investors like Warren Buffett, Julian Robertson, Jim Rogers and Bill Gross all agree on this outcome, which is terrible for stocks. On 11th June, the yield on the 10-year Treasury Note, the benchmark rate for US mortgages, briefly traded above 4%. Why is this very significant? Because the US Federal Reserve Board had kept interest rates at almost zero. The market obviously has other ideas.
Looking at the long term, one of the most ominous scenarios has been portrayed by economist Arther Laffer (of the Laffer Curve fame). In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, he predicts; “Higher interest rates, massive tax increases, and partial default on government promises. But as bad as the fiscal picture is, panic-driven monetary policies portend to have even more dire consequences.” Laffer concludes: “To date, what’s happened is potentially far more inflationary than were the monetary policies of the 1970s, when the prime interest rate peaked at 21.5% and inflation peaked in the low double digits. Gold prices went from $35 per ounce to $850 per ounce, and the dollar collapsed.”
Earlier, the company, in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange said Shaw Wallace & Co which holds 10.27% stake in USL intends its all shares due to corporate considerations.
In 2005, Vijay Mallya-led United Breweries bought Shaw Wallace & Co, which was merged with the group's flagship company USL last year.
Mallya was trying to sell about 18.6 million treasury shares, valued at about Rs17 billion to UK-based Diageo, since late last year. However, the deal seems to be stuck over issues like pricing and management control.
The two block deals in which USL sold its treasury shares, first block saw about 5.26 million shares been sold at an average price of Rs900 per share and the second block saw around 7.2 million shares sold at an average price of Rs882 per share.
According to media reports Reliance Mutual Fund has picked up shares worth Rs1 billion from the blocks in the open market.
United Spirits has an outstanding debt of Rs75 billion, including Rs15 billion towards working capital and Rs55 billion for the Whyte & Mackay (W&M) acquisition, at the year to end-March.
The repayment of debt for W&M is scheduled to begin this year. In May, USL repaid a first tranche of $45 million while it will have to repay the second tranche, of $45 million, by the end-March next year, with about $20 million also due for repayment.
The company was planning to raise another $200 to $250 million via qualified institutional placements (QIP) route, added reports. United Spirits has over 150 products in its portfolio including brands Black Dog, Signature, Royal Challenge and Romanov. -Yogesh Sapkale [email protected]
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