Nelco Ltd: Sky is coming Down-Result update

Last year when we picked Nelco Ltd (click here for earlier detailed post on Nelco ltd) it was still in transition mode and much action was pending for execution but we had the faith in Nelco keeping in view its strong technical capabilities, the scale of opportunity in Indian VSAT industry and its Tata parentage which ensured strong brand image and easy availability of capital/funds. And after 1 year the sky is getting clear. We picked it around 110-120 last time and it is now at 300 after one year and this is one of the best performer of my portfolio in difficult last one year of stock market.

Lets’ first of all focus on its financial performance this year. Nelco has shown stupendous performance both in topline and in bottom line in FY-2018-19. Its topline this year has grown 27% from 150 cr to 191 cr and the same has touched 51 cr in Mar-19 quarter from 39 cr in Mar-18. At this juncture I am more inclined towards growth in the topline than bottom line because there is still vast scope of scale in VSAT industry in India. So capturing the major chunk of the future scale will be the major growth catalyst and this is exactly what Nelco is doing right now.

It has invested quite a bit last year in expansions as its gross assets/capital work in progress has touched 100 cr from 50 cr last year. I am sure that these investments are made for maritime and aerospace connectivity because in Sep-18 its gross assets base including capital WIP was 70 cr and it has crossed 100 cr now only after the approval of maritime and aerospace connectivity by Indian government in Dec-18 (for which I was waiting for long time). This expanded assets base is one of the reason which has impacted its already good bottom line figures due to depreciation and interest charges as it has taken debt to the tune of 34 cr to fund its expansions. Still it has managed to grow the figure of PBT at 20 cr from 15 cr last year. However I think the maximum benefit of the expansions done this year will accrue in the next year and we’ll see high growth in top line but bottom line growth will be even faster.

But the most important move is the declaration of dividend by the company. They have declared Rs. 1.5 dividend which is a significant move and it shows the confidence of the company in the stability of the future growth and profits. Its dividend history was erratic due to subdued performance in last 2 decades and last time it gave dividend was way back in 2013 (50 paise). So this dividend is very important indicator of the future growth. It has given great all round performance this year and I think this will take its stock price to new orbits. Its current PE is around 30 which for a company growing like Nelco is not expensive and we should see this touching 40 and the same will get re-rated after the June-19 quarter results and any other favorable regulatory and policy action.

Its transformation phase started in 2016-17 after it sold its loss making automation business and shifted focused on profitable VSAT business. But due to the dynamics of VSAT industry in India where much action was needed at regulatory and policy front not much was in the hands of Nelco even if it wanted to grow its business. Nelco needed to wait for some important actions in external environment to settle some of the most pertinent issues restricting the growth of satcom industry in India like Satellite capacity/bandwidth was not available to Satcom industry in India even if they wanted to grow their business, Internet connectivity in some high growth sectors like marine and aerospace was not allowed. So for me, more than the action in the topline and bottom line it was the action in the regulatory and satellite capacity fronts which was more important.

GSAT satellites: Game changers by ISRO for India

As I have noted in the last blog post on Nelco that affordable supply (New satellites) and corresponding high demand (Marine/Aerospace/Remote areas) is the most significant factor for a new technology/product to achieve widespread acceptability and growth. So this year, as Government created the new supply avenues by launching new satellites it has also created the scope for demand growth by allowing internet connectivity in marine and aerospace sector and this has really opened the doors of huge growth for Nelco.

This year, ISRO has done some serious work in creating the satellite communication capacity for India. ISRO has launched GSAT-19 in June 2017, GSAT-29 in Nov 2018, GSAT-11 india’s heaviest satellite launched in dec-2018 and GSAT-20 another heavyweight was launched in Jan-2019.  So by mid-2019, these satellites will cover the entire nation and together they have the capacity for 100 Gbps internet capacity but this will provide more benefit to rural and remote areas of India. As I have shared in the last post, the main motive behind these satellites is creating fast reliable internet capacity in rural india. This massive capacity will also support commercial and industrial applications like ATM, Marine and aerospace connectivity, Oil and gas sector, mining, education sector etc. India has huge ambitions for smart cities and without satellite internet connectivity in smart cities is not possible especially keeping in view the mission criticality of satellite internet. Similarly, IOT also needs reliable satellite internet.

So the supply of this massive bandwidth will create the demand for VSAT in remote areas and other industrial application like marine and aerospace. So many of Government’s public welfare and e-governance initiatives like e-banking, e-health, e-governance aimed to grow rural India was on hold due to lack of cheap and reliable internet connectivity in remote and rural areas.

As I have explained in the old post, in remote and tough terrains building of terrestrial communications is very costly and not suitable for mass scale application. Satellite internet is the best choice here as one satellite is enough to cover large area cost effectively. Like, take the case of Indonesia, which has string of 13677 islands so instead of creating terrestrial infrastructure for telephony it has launched dedicated satellite for telephonic communication in the country and this has proved very cheap as compared to creating time consuming and costly physical infrastructure.

Satellite Internet can fight on cost

So we will see satellite internet creating its own space and there may be a situation where it can give tough fight to terrestrial internet on low cost. The biggest factor affecting the cost of satellite bandwidth is not the cost of satellite but it is the high costs of satellite launch. Like, for example, cost of satellite launch by Arianespace's rocket is around $100 million after subsidies. SpaceX due to its backward integration offers the same at around $62 million and India’s ISRO is at $60 million and it is looking to reduce the cost even further and ISRO will launch all of its future heavy satellite on its own.

So due to heavy launch costs, the focus was always on to create long life satellites in order to get the maximum out of the launch costs and it was not possible to use new age technologies in space communication instantly as the same is being used in terrestrial communications like 3G/4G/5G. Further, the focus is always on reducing the weight of the satellite as every KG costs big to launch. So it has resulted in light weight space hardware and machinery which often creates problems in launching and sometimes entire satellites is destroyed.

So this risk of failure and high launch costs discouraged the satellite use for mass scale applications like personal internet. The high cost of a space program has traditionally put it beyond the reach of most countries. For example, Intelsat, the firm which currently operates more communications satellites than any other, has been around for 54 years and has launched just 94.

But space launch costs are declining fast and trend is expected to continue and costs will be reduced even faster which will pave the way for massive growth in space technologies for the benefit of army, industries and general public as a whole.

Along with ISRO, Elon musk owned SpaceX is doing great work in reducing the cost of launch rockets. Its Falcon 9 has reduced the cost of space travel to ISS (International space station) by almost 20 times at $2,720 per kilogram as compared to $54,500 per kilogram earlier. And with current focus, it is expected that space launch costs will go even lower due to focus on reuse of launch vehicle, more demand resulting in further cost reduction due to economies of scale, advanced engineering and technical advances. Reduced launch cost will result in heavier, strong, reliable, and better performing spacecraft to be developed at lower cost and this will revolutionize every sphere of connectivity. At present , due to weight issues more reliable and strong models are not being used but low launch costs will result in better design and materials which will further reduce the cost of space shuttle as the same can be designed keeping in view the performance rather than low weight.

So much work is under way in space technologies and as per our past experience commercial aspect can really transform anything and result in advance technologies and cost reductions. Earlier avatar of satellite internet was mainly for defense and national security where cost was never a constraint but now as people in remote areas has money for connectivity and industries are finding novel applications for satellite internet like IOT the satellite connectivity sector is going to witness radical innovations and investments to create the economies of scale.

Marine and Aerospace connectivity: Big growth factors in the near future

Indian Government in Dec-2018 has allowed internet connectivity for maritime and aerospace sector and this is one big event which will create the demand for satellite internet and attract more investments in the sector.

At present, I think maritime connectivity has high growth prospectus than aerospace because worldwide this industry is one of the few which has embraced satellite internet quite early. Just for a perspective, maritime connectivity in Europe is growing some 20% yearly and generates revenues of some $1 billion. Actually shipping sector due to its dynamics is more suitable for satellite internet. First of all, still sea route accounts for more than 90%of world trade and this is really big!! We think that now is the age of aviation but shipping is still the cheapest when it is about global trade.

VSAT provides these giant ships fast and reliable internet connectivity which is vital for their operation and safety in the vast sea. Further, internet connectivity is a major factor for employees while choosing shipping lines for jobs because they are away from their families for long long time so connectivity is a big factor for them. Same is true for passengers on cruise ships where internet connectivity is a major differentiating factor as they need fast and reliable internet for their entertainment, connectivity and business needs while at sea.

Also, fishing sector was one of the fastest in recent times in using VSAT on their vessels due to crew safety and welfare, weather mapping, regulations and vessel safety. India also has vast fishing lines and I think this is going to be one of the first to embrace satellite internet.

Across globe, maritime VSAT is set to grow fast and the same thing is true for indian shipping lines also. Global satellite leasing revenues for maritime applications alone are going to touch $1 billion by 2026 from the current levels of $500 millions.

For offering maritime connectivity to Indian and foreign vessels sailing into Indian waters, Nelco has already entered into partnership with global satellite communication giant Speedcast International Ltd. As per the deal customers/vessels of the both the companies will be able to connect to the network of both the companies while moving in or out of Indian waters. This is one of the first such partnership for Indian maritime connectivity.

Although there will be competition but i expect Nelco to capture significant share of maritime connectivity just like it did in Oil & Gas and ATM industry in the recent times where it has emerged as one of the fastest growing player. I am expecting Nelco to be very aggressive in its expansions.

Similarly, airlines are going to adopt VSAT technology at fast pace in the near future as just like maritime aerospace connectivity is proving to be the decisive factor in choosing the airlines by passengers. Further, the demand will be created by business class passengers for applications such as emails with large attachments, and video conferencing. 

There are some concerns over the rules by Indian authorities that satellite bandwidth can be taken only through ISRO and this will render satellite bandwidth very costly as even at present satellite bandwidth charges in India are some 6-7 times higher compared to other parts of the world. Due to capacity constraint in the satellite communication the charges are highest in India whereas for broadband the charges are lowest in India. But I think this was when ISRO was not having bandwidth capacity for leasing for commercial purposes but now after the launch of 4 giant GSAT satellites last year there will be no dearth of bandwidth capacity.

So Nelco is still in transition phase and this year will be even more significant as the focus is on maritime and aerospace connectivity and big investments will be done.

Continue to hold for further re-rating.

One last thing I would like to add is that I got so many queries from worried investors about the fall in the price of a stock which they have bought at higher price. Some gets desperate for non performance of their stock over long time. Like, take for example, Narayana Hrudayalaya and HCG which are one of my favorites in healthcare sector and I am investing in these stocks regularly for last 2 years but both these have fallen (although almost all the stocks have fallen some 40-50%) in last one year. But both have invested quite a lot in building capacities and it’ll take time for these capacities to reflect in the top and bottom line so for me current fall is a fantastic opportunity. Same is true for the likes of MCX, Laurus labs, Mahindra lifespace etc. which are fantastic stocks.

I see people getting worried when their stock is not valued, not tracked, not followed by the market and it lies low and down. I see them talking about PE ratio assigned, traded quantity and coverage by analysts and when these are missing from their stock they shiver with fear. But let me tell you one thing-Divine is not divine because of offerings. Offerings do not transform something into divinity..they can't even differentiate between a real or fake because mortal beings offer these as per their expectations. And divine is still divine even if not recognized by mortal beings and if we can see the wisdom level in our mortal world chances are much higher that a real divinity is missed by mortals as they always value bunch of offerings. But a true seeker always yearns for a Lord Buddha sitting alone under a tree…eyes closed...unnoticed…radiating divine…

(Views are personal and should not be taken as a recommendation for buying or selling a stock. Stock markets are inherently risky so kindly do your Due Diligence before investing. I am not a certified Sebi Analyst and holding the shares discussed in this Post. Reach me at oscillationss@yahoo.in).

Hercules Hoists Ltd: Warehousing Automation

Stock investing is all about value investing i.e. picking a stock at a price which is much lower than its intrinsic value (real worth). And most people think that this real worth is basically a handiwork of financial analysis which calculates Real worth of a stock based on earning growth, balance sheet strength etc. But this is just post mortem. The most important factor in the value investing formula given by Sir Benjamin Graham was not the evaluation of these financial parameters but it was the mysterious “g” in his formula which was the most important factor in the valuation matrix. This “g” denotes the future growth rate and this is where investing starts and ends. This growth rate is not a financial entity it is just represented as a financial figure.

To understand the growth prospects of a company requires thinking like a businessman. One has to understand the whole nitty-gritty of a particular industry-raw material, substitutes, strength of entry barriers, user industry, global competition, future threat or opportunities…and the list is endless but this concludes why stock analysis is so complex because it looks like dealing in finite numbers but it is most affected by infinite business/economic variables. This effectively means looking into the future demand supply trends and this is where creativity, intuition, wisdom and knowledge enlarge the vision to sniff the future much ahead of others and this is the most decisive factor in business and in stock investing.

Sometimes I feel that stock picking is getting increasingly difficult. In old times, there was information scarcity and only the privileged ones had the timely access to relevant financial and economic data affecting companies in stock market and so they could pick valuable gems cheaply and much early. But today most of the data is available freely and quantum of privileged data is very less (although that is still important). But this democracy in data availability means one has to expand his vision further to look far deeper into the future and gasp the coming economic trends.

We are also in our journey to understand what changes GST will bring into the business land scape of India. Logistics is no doubt one sector which is going to see revolutionary changes because in its earlier avatar it was most effected by fragmented structure of Indian taxation system where each state has its own set of taxes and businesses were taking investment decisions not from the point of view of operational and business sense but to save multiple state level taxes.

GST is a massive financial engineering and it is bound to change the way we were doing businesses. In an ideal economy, business decisions should be based on sound operational economics and efficiency rather than an exercise to fit the business operations into the tax or accounts regime. Tax/revenue authorities should keep the business economics in mind while framing tax laws rather than businesses designing their businesses to tax laws because taxes do not generate business profits rather businesses generate the resources for taxes.

Earlier, we have picked Hercules Hoist Ltd (Click here for earlier study) as one of the beneficiary of impact of GST on logistics. In the past one year after we picked Hercules Hoist things are looking in much better shape.

GST to revolutionize the warehousing in India

Supply chain and logistics is the most important function in the entire chain of production to final consumption and it requires huge resources. And warehousing is the most important part of the entire logistic function because excellency in warehousing implies low cost of warehousing, low inventory levels, low pilferage but earlier due to state level taxes like CST companies planned their warehousing just to avoid high taxes. Earlier, every state was a foreign territory as far as movement of the goods was concerned and each state levied a number of taxes on goods coming into their state from outside state. But amid this complex tax structure, some relaxations in taxes were given like when goods were moved inter state not out of sale but stock transfers no CST/Entry tax was charged. So companies, in order to avoid multiple level taxes, just operated small inefficient warehouses in each state and this along with other factors has resulted in higher logistics costs which are twice (14% of GDP) the cost in developed countries (7% of GDP).

So warehousing in India only meant “godowns” which were just a structure with no automation and did not provide any value added services. So companies operated small shabby warehouses in each state they operated which resulted in operational inefficiencies and huge resources were blocked in the form of high inventories, maintenance of large number of inefficient warehouses.

But all this has been going to change after the implementation of GST. After GST there are no state level markets and India is a one big market and no matter from where you operate the taxation is same. so now companies can plan their supply chain and logistics keeping in view the operational efficiencies rather than tax savings.

Earlier, the focus on tax saving resulted in small low tech warehouses and the average size was some 10000 sq feet and almost 90% of the warehousing space is controlled by small unorganized players. At this small scale it was not possible to invest in mechanization and automation. So there was no economy of scale, no control and overall inefficiency. But after GST, the average size of a warehouse has touched 1 lac sq feet and companies are investing big in mechanization and automation and so now the true worth and value of a good warehousing system will be realized. Warehouses of the size of 4 lac-5 lac sq feet are underway.

As one can see, it is impossible to manage these large scale warehouses without being equipped with smart mechanization and automation.

So these smart fully equipped warehouses present huge opportunity for Hercules Hoists which is one of the largest suppliers of material handling solutions in India.

Warehousing industry is undergoing great consolidation and increasing merger and acquisitions will take place and the sizes of warehouses will increase significantly to make possible the automation. This greater scale will also positively impact the IT cost of deploying Warehouse management system (WMS) and ERP systems which was not possible earlier and due to these technical advancements in warehousing entire supply chain will reap the benefits.

Apart from GST, there are other reasons which are creating the demand for large scale automated warehouses:

1) The growth in manufacturing due to “Make in India” initiative. High end large and smart Warehousing and logistics systems are required to support this scale of growth in manufacturing.

2) The warehousing and logistics sector has been granted the infrastructure status which means they can get funds cheaply with payment stretched much longer time.

3) The huge demand for high tech large scale warehousing from E-commerce sector. E-commerce is all about reaping the benefit of scale so large fully automated warehouses are the first thing they need to create value for themselves.

Hence, no doubt these large smart warehouses are going to save the costs of logistics of companies.

The most important factor is reduced inventory costs. Inventory consumes huge resources in the form of cost of production, storage costs, theft, damage, obsolescence etc. So optimal inventory levels are the ultimate aim of any supply chain as the same will maintain the overall efficiency of entire supply chain. Earlier, companies were always facing either the situation of excess inventory or low inventory leading to loss of business.

Infact, the efficiency of a supply chain system is gauged from the levels of inventory-how much capital is lying idle due to inventory carrying costs which can otherwise be used for other productive uses. So optimal inventory level is the prime aim of any supply chain manager.

Due to the use of hub and spoke model for inventory control across the entire supply chain, faster movement of goods due to fewer/no state border checks, lower number of warehouses, higher efficiency of warehouses due to automation etc. means companies can maintain pre-GST supply chain service levels with much lower levels of inventory as they can move the goods fast. So no surprise that inventory costs are coming down. As per recent studies, inventory levels have come down by some 30%-40% which are increasing the profitability.

Consumer durable industry is going to see almost 50% fall in warehousing costs while FMCG sector will see 25% fall. This is due to the fact that lead time for consumer durables are around 2 days so consumer durable players can easily supply the existing markets from fewer but larger warehouses like from Haryana warehouses they can cater to Punjab, Uttarakhand, UP and Himachal Pradesh easily which are major consumption centers in the country.

The stock turnaround time for FMCG is much lower (24 hours) due to reasons like small scale of distributors/retailers, availability of substitutes in the form of other brands so they are required to maintain more warehouses as compared to consumer durables but still due to operational efficiencies their cost will fall some 25%.

So as we can see the investments in smart warehousing will be more than offset by the savings in the cost of carrying inventories.

Also, small and low key warehousing further takes away the scope of movement of cargo by rail due to short distances as railway frieght is cheaper by some 30-40% in long distance cargo. I feel, with the coming of dedicated freight corridor warehousing and logistics will be further benefited.

Further, there will not be much consolidation in clod chain logistics as they are very capital intensive to build and so it is not easy for companies to leave some capacity just like that which they can do for low key warehousing where their investments are low.

The warehousing sector is witnessing big activity

Earlier, due to small size and small opportunity, large organized players and PE investors have avoided warehousing sector. But now this is one of the most sought out sector. In the last 4 years, investors have put around $3 billion in warehousing and this accounted for around 26% of the total private equity funding in the real estate sector during this period.

Demand for Grade A warehouses (Large automated) is growing and going to cross about 300 million sq feet by 2022 from approx. 140 million sq feet in 2018. So as we can see, this requires massive investment in capacity in the coming 3-4 years.in the next 2 years, investments of around Rs. 45000 cr are going to be made in grade A/B warehouses and some 100 Million Sq feet of warehousing space will be created.

Grand opportunity for Hercules Hoists Ltd

So, this gigantic scale investments and activity in large format warehousing is going to create high demand for material handling equipment for warehousing and this is where Hercules Hoists ltd comes into picture.

Hercules Hoists has established itself as most trusted brand in Indian material handling market and cater to almost all of the manufacturing industries including logistics and counts leading manufacturers as its customers. It operates under “Indef” and Hercules “Hoists brands”.

The scope of its products for material handling systems in warehouses is enormous. Like, its electric wire/chain hoists can be used for overhead material handling in the warehouses. Overhead material handling in the warehouses increases productivity, enhance safety, improve ergonomics and maximize available floor space. It has many other innovative products like iCranes and iStacker which are created for logistics sector. I do not see any reason why Hercules should not be able to benefit from high demand for warehouse mechanization and automation.

Although, Hercules Hoists provides material handling solutions to a number of manufacturing industries but I think its high growth phase is coming now due to growth in warehousing and further due to the revival of investment cycle in other industries. Indian industries were slow on capital expansions due to high debt levels in the past, high interest costs, bank NPA’s resulting in banks not providing loan to industries. But now after a long period of consolidation the investment cycle is going to pick up.

Recent financial performance points towards revival

Its operational performance in the recent 2 quarters points towards revival in its fortunes. In sep-18 quarter results, its turnover increased to 30 cr from 17 cr in sep-17 while its PBT excluding other income was at 3 cr vs 20 lac. Similarly, in Dec-18 quarter results, its turnover increased to 25 cr from 17 cr in Dec-17 while its PBT excluding other income was at 2 cr vs 70 lac.

I think, companies were waiting for more clarity on GST laws/rules before going ahead with their investment plans in warehousing etc. So it was not that they started investing in warehousing right after GST in July-17 instead they waited for the clarity and common sense. I think 2018 was the year of action and from now on the pace is only going to increase so it is possible that we may see high growth in the topline of companies related to this space like Hercules Hoists.

I am waiting for mar-19 quarter result for Hercules and I think it should see some 80%-100% growth in the topline. Further, Hercules does not need any capital investment so soon as I think it can sustain the topline levels of 300-400 cr without any capacity expansions so it implies we are going to see the major impact of this growth in the scale of operations for Hercules in the bottom line as it is also nil debt company. Further, as a nil debt and Bajaj group company there will be no shortage of funds in case it needs investments in capacity expansion in the future.

At present, i care more about the growth in top line than bottom line because there is huge scope of growth in scale of operations. And at current low scale of operations bottom line anyway is not relevant. But still even at such a low scale of operations, at CMP of 115 it trades at PE of 28 (If we take into account the recent performances then the same will around 20-23) which is good because at this juncture i could not have cared even if it was in losses. But this better financial performance is due to conservative and superior use of capital.

I am buying this one regularly and picked good quantity when it fell below 100. Few days back, picked at 115. CMP is 115. This one is good high quality Tier 3 stock (Risky) and I think this may turn out to be another Nelco for us.

But this being Bajaj group stock, nil debt and investments in its books provides high margin of safety and even I put it as Tier 3 but this riskiness is not due to its books/balance sheet weakness but due to the fact that most of its valuation will come from future growth only.

Further as explained in the earlier post that  it is having stocks of various Bajaj group companies like Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Holdings and Bajaj Electricals and MF valuing some 250 cr, has 2 acre vacant land in Mulund in Mumbai (I think it should get around 70-80 cr). So out of 400 cr market cap, some 320-330 cr (80%) belongs to Investments and land. So we are getting the rest of the company with one of India’s best material handling brand for just 20% (80 cr). It earns around 10-12 cr as dividends from these investments which provides the stability to the bottom line.

Apart from Hercules Hoists, I think Redington, which is my another favorite stock, is going to be benefitted from GST due to low cost of inventory for its distribution business and its focus on third party logistics business. Other large scale Logistics players like Mahindra logistics and Future supply chain will also be the key beneficiaries. 

Also, these giant scale warehouses need Pre-fabricated steel/material and Pennar Engineered building solutions and Everest Industries can be the beneficiaries as these two are one of the biggest but I have not studied these two in detail so not in a position to offer any further view.

In the end, I am going to touch something about the high standards of Bajaj group and this is why I think even after being a small company Hercules is still a safe bet for us.

Something about Bajaj group

Let me share something of my opinion about Bajaj group. Bajaj group is one of the best professionally managed group. Their family members start the job right from the shop level and they have to prove their mettle. Nothing is based on the family ownership quite unlike other promoter owned companies. Very few people know the strong family roots of Bajaj brothers. They are incredibly smart and choose the best person to run the business keeping apart their egos and family ownership.

Rahul bajaj is the current patriarch of the family/businesses and he is an institution in himself. He came to the small town Akurdi in 1965 (Bajaj Auto) and he still stays in this small town in factory colony. I have great respect for Rahul Bajaj and I think he was and is way ahead of the likes of Munjals, Ambanis. There was a time in 1970’s when there was a 10 year waiting for Bajaj scooter but still Rahul never tried to profiteering (as people were dying to offer much more than the market price) but still Rahul offered the best scooter and authentic price.

Bajajs are very down to earth people. The founder Jamnalal Bajaj had two sons- Kamalnayan and Ramkrishna Bajaj. Both were ardent followers of Gandhi and Jamnalal donated everything to Gandhi. Both sons were the real force behind the growth of the empire.

Now let me come to the bigger story-The current leader Rahul is the son of Kamalnayan and Shishir was his brother and a sister Suman. Ramkrishna has three sons- Shekhar, Niraj and Madhur. But for the entire world they were five brothers…there was nothing like cousin brother between them and the most able of them was running the best companies…in fact Bajaj Auto was created by Rahul so he was the leader. But still entire family shared everything…they have pocket money, leaves etc. in equality. However in 2000’s there was a fight between brothers and Rahul was shocked when one of 5 brothers wanted separate business. He along with other 4 tried hard to persuade him to stop demanding. You’ll be surprised to know that it was Rahul’s real brother Shishir who was fighting and other 4 were together and Rahul was leading them. Shishir’s son Kushagra was over ambitious albeit with great abilities but he wanted to build something on his own.

So brothers parted (Only one) and Shishir got Bajaj Hindustan and Bajaj Corp (I think they own some big power plants also). But rest of the 4 brothers are still together and running the other giant group companies. Rahul’s sons Rajiv and Sanjiv are running Bajaj Auto because they have proved their ability. Even Rahul had many differences of opinion with son Rajiv (like stopping scooter production which Rahul did not want) but still he never interfered and Rajiv has his own style. But Rahul has always praised him for his toughness and leadership.

Shekhar Bajaj runs the other Bajaj house biggie-Bajaj electrical. Many times Rahul has told that his younger brother Shekhar has never doubted and wanted a place in Bajaj Auto as he knows that Rahul is running the best show and Shekhar is doing the best in Bajaj electricals. Bajaj electricals is one of the best electrical goods company enjoying great brand strength (one of my investments, Study posted at this blog also). So as you can see there is nothing like bad managing in Bajaj group…the best of them will lead the show. I think the other brothers Niraj and Madhur are associated with Bajaj Auto. So it is still a close knit family…true Indian joint family…sharing everything among them.

This is why I have so much faith in Bajaj group.

(Views are personal and should not be taken as a recommendation for buying or selling a stock. Stock markets are inherently risky so kindly do your Due Diligence before investing. I am not a certified Sebi Analyst and holding the shares discussed in this Post. Reach me at oscillationss@yahoo.in).