India

In this briefing:

1. ITD Cementation India Ltd- Uncomplicated Pure Play Infra Service Provider with No Asset Ownership!!
2. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond

1. ITD Cementation India Ltd- Uncomplicated Pure Play Infra Service Provider with No Asset Ownership!!

ITD Cementation India Ltd (ITDCIL) is one of the few pure-play infrastructure execution companies left in India, in the last decade the entire infra space in India has diversified into debt funded asset heavy infra ownership which has led to tremendous value destruction. The company is engaged in the construction of marine structures, highways, bridges & flyovers, metros, airports, hydro-tunneling, dams & canals, water & wastewater segment, industrial structures, buildings and specialist foundation engineering projects with presence across India. IDTCIL receives technological support from its parent company Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd (ITDPCL). ITDPCL has a presence across the globe and has expertise in the airport, Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), high-speed bullet train projects, marine projects among others.

In the last 12 months, ITDCIL has grown at 24% with revenue at INR 25.9 bn. EBITDA and PAT stood at INR 3.34 bn and INR 1.18 bn receptively with EBITDA margin and  PAT margin at 12.9% and 4.57% receptively. EBITDA margins contracted by 174 bps and PAT margin expanded by 109 bps. During the same period EBITDA grew by 9% and PAT increased by 62.4%.

The company’s order book as of Dec’18 stands at INR 95 bn with 45 bn order inflow between Jan’18 to Dec’18 its Book to Bill ratio is 3.73 times.

Drivers:
India is an infra deficit country. In 2015, India spent about 5% of GDP on Infra and this expenditure needs to cost about 8.5% (Climate adjusted investment under high growth scenario of 7.8% GDP growth) over 2016-2030 and estimated infra spending though 2030 is expected to be USD 5.5 tn. Per the Global Competitive Index, India’s infrastructure score had increased from 3.4 out of 7 in 2008 to 4.2 points out of 7 in 2017. Being the fastest growing among large economies and infra deficit country, India offers enough opportunities for investment in the infrastructure sector.

ITDCIL has proven expertise in urban infra ( especially metro rail) and marine structures which are seeing a huge impetus in India with almost all major cities either building or planning to develop metro rails and significant investments going into developing port infrastructures and inland waterways through the Sagarmala, river cleaning through Namami Gange among others. The Government of India (GOI) is expected to spend about INR 8 trillion through Sagarmala and INR 200 bn through Namami Gange. ITD Cementation India Ltd is expected to be one of the beneficiary due to its experience in metro and marine segment.

The company is expected to grow at 65% in FY19 (15-month financial year) and is expected to register EBITDA margin of 12.4% and Profit margin of 4.26% with EBITDA at INR 4.3 bn and Profit at INR 1.57 bn. The company’s shares at the current price of INR 132 are trading at a PEx 19.21x its TTM EPS, 19.12x its FY19F EPS (calculated for 12 months) and 16.31x its FY20F EPS. The company’s ROE and ROA for the previous financial year stood at 11.81% and 3.05% respectively.

2. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond

Embassy Office Parks REIT (EOP IN) plans to raise around US$680m in its India IPO. Of this, it has already raised around US$125m from Capital Group, who came in as a strategic investor. EOP will primarily hold office assets in Bengaluru, Pune and Noida with a total portfolio size of around US$4.5bn. 

In my previous insights I’ve covered the company background, its projected growth and compared it to its main listed peer and other yield assets in India: 

• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Good Assets but Projections Might Be a Tad Too Bullish, and
• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Comparison with AIT and a Look at the Required Yield

In this insight, I’ll cover the deal dynamics, compare the revised forecast in the RHP with the earlier one from the DRHP, comment on the yield boost from the zero coupon debt and run the deal through our framework.

In this briefing:

1. ITD Cementation India Ltd- Uncomplicated Pure Play Infra Service Provider with No Asset Ownership!!
2. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond
3. India: Weaker Growth, Benign Inflation Implies Continued Monetary Easing

1. ITD Cementation India Ltd- Uncomplicated Pure Play Infra Service Provider with No Asset Ownership!!

ITD Cementation India Ltd (ITDCIL) is one of the few pure-play infrastructure execution companies left in India, in the last decade the entire infra space in India has diversified into debt funded asset heavy infra ownership which has led to tremendous value destruction. The company is engaged in the construction of marine structures, highways, bridges & flyovers, metros, airports, hydro-tunneling, dams & canals, water & wastewater segment, industrial structures, buildings and specialist foundation engineering projects with presence across India. IDTCIL receives technological support from its parent company Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd (ITDPCL). ITDPCL has a presence across the globe and has expertise in the airport, Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), high-speed bullet train projects, marine projects among others.

In the last 12 months, ITDCIL has grown at 24% with revenue at INR 25.9 bn. EBITDA and PAT stood at INR 3.34 bn and INR 1.18 bn receptively with EBITDA margin and  PAT margin at 12.9% and 4.57% receptively. EBITDA margins contracted by 174 bps and PAT margin expanded by 109 bps. During the same period EBITDA grew by 9% and PAT increased by 62.4%.

The company’s order book as of Dec’18 stands at INR 95 bn with 45 bn order inflow between Jan’18 to Dec’18 its Book to Bill ratio is 3.73 times.

Drivers:
India is an infra deficit country. In 2015, India spent about 5% of GDP on Infra and this expenditure needs to cost about 8.5% (Climate adjusted investment under high growth scenario of 7.8% GDP growth) over 2016-2030 and estimated infra spending though 2030 is expected to be USD 5.5 tn. Per the Global Competitive Index, India’s infrastructure score had increased from 3.4 out of 7 in 2008 to 4.2 points out of 7 in 2017. Being the fastest growing among large economies and infra deficit country, India offers enough opportunities for investment in the infrastructure sector.

ITDCIL has proven expertise in urban infra ( especially metro rail) and marine structures which are seeing a huge impetus in India with almost all major cities either building or planning to develop metro rails and significant investments going into developing port infrastructures and inland waterways through the Sagarmala, river cleaning through Namami Gange among others. The Government of India (GOI) is expected to spend about INR 8 trillion through Sagarmala and INR 200 bn through Namami Gange. ITD Cementation India Ltd is expected to be one of the beneficiary due to its experience in metro and marine segment.

The company is expected to grow at 65% in FY19 (15-month financial year) and is expected to register EBITDA margin of 12.4% and Profit margin of 4.26% with EBITDA at INR 4.3 bn and Profit at INR 1.57 bn. The company’s shares at the current price of INR 132 are trading at a PEx 19.21x its TTM EPS, 19.12x its FY19F EPS (calculated for 12 months) and 16.31x its FY20F EPS. The company’s ROE and ROA for the previous financial year stood at 11.81% and 3.05% respectively.

2. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond

Embassy Office Parks REIT (EOP IN) plans to raise around US$680m in its India IPO. Of this, it has already raised around US$125m from Capital Group, who came in as a strategic investor. EOP will primarily hold office assets in Bengaluru, Pune and Noida with a total portfolio size of around US$4.5bn. 

In my previous insights I’ve covered the company background, its projected growth and compared it to its main listed peer and other yield assets in India: 

• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Good Assets but Projections Might Be a Tad Too Bullish, and
• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Comparison with AIT and a Look at the Required Yield

In this insight, I’ll cover the deal dynamics, compare the revised forecast in the RHP with the earlier one from the DRHP, comment on the yield boost from the zero coupon debt and run the deal through our framework.

3. India: Weaker Growth, Benign Inflation Implies Continued Monetary Easing

The weak January industrial production data and benign inflation data for February reinforce the belief that the economy has hit a soft patch. With the government in election mode, public spending is likely to slowdown. Monetary policy is thus likely to turn accommodative to support growth given that inflation is likely to remain well inside the MPC’s target of 4%. Indeed odds are increasing for continuation of monetary easing beyond April, especially if the forecast is for a normal monsoon.

In this briefing:

1. ITD Cementation India Ltd- Uncomplicated Pure Play Infra Service Provider with No Asset Ownership!!
2. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond
3. India: Weaker Growth, Benign Inflation Implies Continued Monetary Easing
4. Why Did Bank Credit to NBFCs Spurt in September, and Shrink in January?

1. ITD Cementation India Ltd- Uncomplicated Pure Play Infra Service Provider with No Asset Ownership!!

ITD Cementation India Ltd (ITDCIL) is one of the few pure-play infrastructure execution companies left in India, in the last decade the entire infra space in India has diversified into debt funded asset heavy infra ownership which has led to tremendous value destruction. The company is engaged in the construction of marine structures, highways, bridges & flyovers, metros, airports, hydro-tunneling, dams & canals, water & wastewater segment, industrial structures, buildings and specialist foundation engineering projects with presence across India. IDTCIL receives technological support from its parent company Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd (ITDPCL). ITDPCL has a presence across the globe and has expertise in the airport, Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), high-speed bullet train projects, marine projects among others.

In the last 12 months, ITDCIL has grown at 24% with revenue at INR 25.9 bn. EBITDA and PAT stood at INR 3.34 bn and INR 1.18 bn receptively with EBITDA margin and  PAT margin at 12.9% and 4.57% receptively. EBITDA margins contracted by 174 bps and PAT margin expanded by 109 bps. During the same period EBITDA grew by 9% and PAT increased by 62.4%.

The company’s order book as of Dec’18 stands at INR 95 bn with 45 bn order inflow between Jan’18 to Dec’18 its Book to Bill ratio is 3.73 times.

Drivers:
India is an infra deficit country. In 2015, India spent about 5% of GDP on Infra and this expenditure needs to cost about 8.5% (Climate adjusted investment under high growth scenario of 7.8% GDP growth) over 2016-2030 and estimated infra spending though 2030 is expected to be USD 5.5 tn. Per the Global Competitive Index, India’s infrastructure score had increased from 3.4 out of 7 in 2008 to 4.2 points out of 7 in 2017. Being the fastest growing among large economies and infra deficit country, India offers enough opportunities for investment in the infrastructure sector.

ITDCIL has proven expertise in urban infra ( especially metro rail) and marine structures which are seeing a huge impetus in India with almost all major cities either building or planning to develop metro rails and significant investments going into developing port infrastructures and inland waterways through the Sagarmala, river cleaning through Namami Gange among others. The Government of India (GOI) is expected to spend about INR 8 trillion through Sagarmala and INR 200 bn through Namami Gange. ITD Cementation India Ltd is expected to be one of the beneficiary due to its experience in metro and marine segment.

The company is expected to grow at 65% in FY19 (15-month financial year) and is expected to register EBITDA margin of 12.4% and Profit margin of 4.26% with EBITDA at INR 4.3 bn and Profit at INR 1.57 bn. The company’s shares at the current price of INR 132 are trading at a PEx 19.21x its TTM EPS, 19.12x its FY19F EPS (calculated for 12 months) and 16.31x its FY20F EPS. The company’s ROE and ROA for the previous financial year stood at 11.81% and 3.05% respectively.

2. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond

Embassy Office Parks REIT (EOP IN) plans to raise around US$680m in its India IPO. Of this, it has already raised around US$125m from Capital Group, who came in as a strategic investor. EOP will primarily hold office assets in Bengaluru, Pune and Noida with a total portfolio size of around US$4.5bn. 

In my previous insights I’ve covered the company background, its projected growth and compared it to its main listed peer and other yield assets in India: 

• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Good Assets but Projections Might Be a Tad Too Bullish, and
• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Comparison with AIT and a Look at the Required Yield

In this insight, I’ll cover the deal dynamics, compare the revised forecast in the RHP with the earlier one from the DRHP, comment on the yield boost from the zero coupon debt and run the deal through our framework.

3. India: Weaker Growth, Benign Inflation Implies Continued Monetary Easing

The weak January industrial production data and benign inflation data for February reinforce the belief that the economy has hit a soft patch. With the government in election mode, public spending is likely to slowdown. Monetary policy is thus likely to turn accommodative to support growth given that inflation is likely to remain well inside the MPC’s target of 4%. Indeed odds are increasing for continuation of monetary easing beyond April, especially if the forecast is for a normal monsoon.

4. Why Did Bank Credit to NBFCs Spurt in September, and Shrink in January?

For the beleaguered non-bank finance company (NBFC) sector, banks are the single largest component of external funding. This source peaked at the end of September 2018, in the aftermath of the default of IL&FS, a private unlisted infrastructure developer and financer.  However, in the beginning of the last quarter of the financial year ended March 31, 2019 (4QFY2019), when bank credit in the economy normally peaks, bank credit to NBFCs (as on January 18, 2019) has declined as compared with the previous month. The sharp spurt in bank credit at end-September probably indicates that NBFCs utilised their sanctioned limits with the banks, and top-rated NBFCs took on excessive bank loans to tide over their asset-liability mis-matches in that period. Subsequently, by early January 2019, banks may not have renewed or rolled over the NBFC bank limits, which led to a drawing down of bank credit. It therefore appears that bank finance will continue to remain tight for NBFCs in the last quarter of FY2019, as they sell their assets to banks and restrict asset growth in order to remain liquid.

In this briefing:

1. India Payments
2. Axis Bank Board’s Motto: Trust Only in Strangers
3. Asian Bank Asset Quality: “One Overdue, Two Bad” 一逾两呆 The Complex Journey of the NPL
4. Asian Telecom Tower Trends: A General Improvement with China Tower Leading the Way
5. China’s New Semiconductor Thrust – Part 2: Commodities as a Quick Path to Success

1. India Payments

Can Alibaba Group Holding (BABA US) ‘s Alipay and Tencent Holdings (700 HK) WeChat pay replicate their success in India? With the world’s second highest mobile phone users and more than 45 pre-paid Payment Instruments providers, India is witnessing a fiercely competitive payments landscape. In this Insight, we explore options available for public market and VC/PE investors to play the Indian payments theme. We also provide an overview of Indian investments of Alibaba Group Holding (BABA US) , Ant Financial (1051260D CH) , Softbank Group (9984 JP) , Wal Mart Stores (WMT US) , Naspers Ltd (NPN SJ) , Alphabet Inc Cl C (GOOG US) & Sequoia Capital India.  Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and Mobikwik are the ones that really matter.

As payment providers move up from pure transactions to more value-added services like Wealth Management & Offline payments, we also suggest possible channel checks for the focus companies with a view of understanding economics and competitive intensity. 

2. Axis Bank Board’s Motto: Trust Only in Strangers

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval of the selection of Amitabh Chaudhry, the then HDFC Standard Life Insurance Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as the Axis Bank CEO on August 8, 2018, and his taking charge on January 1, 2019, were celebrated by the market. Analysts and the media were also favourably inclined towards his lateral new hires in the senior management, all of whom had spent many years in HDFC Bank. Unfortunately, these developments actually revealed a strategic fault line in the organisation. The Axis Bank board in its quarter century of existence has not only failed to groom internal candidates for the top-most job, but also recently has been unable to nurture or to trust internal candidates being appointed as executive directors and other critical posts (exception of Chief Risk Officer) in senior management. Recently, it has announced a voluntary retirement scheme which is virtually devoid of benefits to the retiring personnel; over 50 senior management personnel are being eased out at the end of April 2019 with little more than Mediclaim and unexercised stock options to show for their years of service. Such a step is likely to send demoralising tremors down the entire organisation. When the board of Axis Bank believes that only outsiders can be trusted in critical posts in senior management, and these posts are denied to the in-house cadre, how can the bank achieve the present CEO’s performance objectives of a sustainable ROE of 18% and doubling the market capitalisation?  

3. Asian Bank Asset Quality: “One Overdue, Two Bad” 一逾两呆 The Complex Journey of the NPL

• Asset Quality recognition is something of a black art with varied definitions for non-performing loans (“NPLs”).
• Firstly, we analyse what a NPL is.
• We then evaluate provisioning changes across Asia. We rank countries.
• We further analyse specific underlying NPL recognition issues in China.
• We then rank a sample of regional banks and countries by NPL recognition.
• Later, we take a look at how different systems come under NPL stress and how they cope often in a crisis environment.
• Finally, we wrap things up with some concluding insights about the cultural backdrop which defines systemic asset quality.

4. Asian Telecom Tower Trends: A General Improvement with China Tower Leading the Way

In our latest Asian Tower Trends report, Chris Hoare looks at the listed telecom tower industry across the region. During 4Q18, we became more optimistic on the Asian tower space. 

• China: Last December, we upgraded what is by far the largest towerco globally, China Tower (788 HK), after it became clear the story was much better than disclosed at the time of the IPO (still a mystery as to why this happened),
• The Indian tower business has been buffeted by rapid industry consolidation but we think it is now near a bottom, and recently raised Bharti Infratel (BHIN IN) to Neutral, and
• Growth is improving in Indonesia with increased investment ex Java from the smaller operators. Protelindo (TOWR IJ) our preferred name, but Tower Bersama (TBIG IJ) has lagged badly recently and may be due some catch up. 

With the 5G investment cycle a key theme for coming years, we are now more constructive on the telecom tower space in general. 

5. China’s New Semiconductor Thrust – Part 2: Commodities as a Quick Path to Success

China’s current efforts to gain prominence in the semiconductor market targets memory chips – large commodities.  This three-part series of insights examines how China determined its strategy and explains which companies are the most threatened by it.

This second part of the series explains how China chose commodity semiconductors (DRAM and NAND flash memory chips) as the best technology to pursue.

In this briefing:

1. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond
2. India: Weaker Growth, Benign Inflation Implies Continued Monetary Easing
3. Why Did Bank Credit to NBFCs Spurt in September, and Shrink in January?
4. Bharti Infratel: Bad News Largely in the Price Now. Upgrade to Neutral

1. Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO – FY19 Revised Down, Yield Propped up by Zero Coupon Bond

Embassy Office Parks REIT (EOP IN) plans to raise around US$680m in its India IPO. Of this, it has already raised around US$125m from Capital Group, who came in as a strategic investor. EOP will primarily hold office assets in Bengaluru, Pune and Noida with a total portfolio size of around US$4.5bn. 

In my previous insights I’ve covered the company background, its projected growth and compared it to its main listed peer and other yield assets in India: 

• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Good Assets but Projections Might Be a Tad Too Bullish, and
• Embassy Office Parks REIT – Comparison with AIT and a Look at the Required Yield

In this insight, I’ll cover the deal dynamics, compare the revised forecast in the RHP with the earlier one from the DRHP, comment on the yield boost from the zero coupon debt and run the deal through our framework.

2. India: Weaker Growth, Benign Inflation Implies Continued Monetary Easing

The weak January industrial production data and benign inflation data for February reinforce the belief that the economy has hit a soft patch. With the government in election mode, public spending is likely to slowdown. Monetary policy is thus likely to turn accommodative to support growth given that inflation is likely to remain well inside the MPC’s target of 4%. Indeed odds are increasing for continuation of monetary easing beyond April, especially if the forecast is for a normal monsoon.

3. Why Did Bank Credit to NBFCs Spurt in September, and Shrink in January?

For the beleaguered non-bank finance company (NBFC) sector, banks are the single largest component of external funding. This source peaked at the end of September 2018, in the aftermath of the default of IL&FS, a private unlisted infrastructure developer and financer.  However, in the beginning of the last quarter of the financial year ended March 31, 2019 (4QFY2019), when bank credit in the economy normally peaks, bank credit to NBFCs (as on January 18, 2019) has declined as compared with the previous month. The sharp spurt in bank credit at end-September probably indicates that NBFCs utilised their sanctioned limits with the banks, and top-rated NBFCs took on excessive bank loans to tide over their asset-liability mis-matches in that period. Subsequently, by early January 2019, banks may not have renewed or rolled over the NBFC bank limits, which led to a drawing down of bank credit. It therefore appears that bank finance will continue to remain tight for NBFCs in the last quarter of FY2019, as they sell their assets to banks and restrict asset growth in order to remain liquid.

4. Bharti Infratel: Bad News Largely in the Price Now. Upgrade to Neutral

Following three years of share price declines, Chris Hoare has started to moderate his negative view on Bharti Infratel (BHIN IN). Our thesis, that Infratel would struggle as the market consolidated to three players, has largely played out. We remain wary of the viability of Vodafone Idea (IDEA IN) at current tariff levels but the ongoing capital raising at IDEA puts off the day of reckoning, while IDEA’s exit penalties (as they consolidate with Vodafone) are being paid quarterly which will flatter revenues/cash flow. We think earnings forecasts have probably bottomed for the time being and raise our recommendation to Neutral and upgrade our price target to INR270 (from INR220).

In this briefing:

1. Axis Bank Board’s Motto: Trust Only in Strangers
2. Asian Bank Asset Quality: “One Overdue, Two Bad” 一逾两呆 The Complex Journey of the NPL
3. Asian Telecom Tower Trends: A General Improvement with China Tower Leading the Way
4. China’s New Semiconductor Thrust – Part 2: Commodities as a Quick Path to Success
5. Indian Election Antics

1. Axis Bank Board’s Motto: Trust Only in Strangers

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval of the selection of Amitabh Chaudhry, the then HDFC Standard Life Insurance Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as the Axis Bank CEO on August 8, 2018, and his taking charge on January 1, 2019, were celebrated by the market. Analysts and the media were also favourably inclined towards his lateral new hires in the senior management, all of whom had spent many years in HDFC Bank. Unfortunately, these developments actually revealed a strategic fault line in the organisation. The Axis Bank board in its quarter century of existence has not only failed to groom internal candidates for the top-most job, but also recently has been unable to nurture or to trust internal candidates being appointed as executive directors and other critical posts (exception of Chief Risk Officer) in senior management. Recently, it has announced a voluntary retirement scheme which is virtually devoid of benefits to the retiring personnel; over 50 senior management personnel are being eased out at the end of April 2019 with little more than Mediclaim and unexercised stock options to show for their years of service. Such a step is likely to send demoralising tremors down the entire organisation. When the board of Axis Bank believes that only outsiders can be trusted in critical posts in senior management, and these posts are denied to the in-house cadre, how can the bank achieve the present CEO’s performance objectives of a sustainable ROE of 18% and doubling the market capitalisation?  

2. Asian Bank Asset Quality: “One Overdue, Two Bad” 一逾两呆 The Complex Journey of the NPL

• Asset Quality recognition is something of a black art with varied definitions for non-performing loans (“NPLs”).
• Firstly, we analyse what a NPL is.
• We then evaluate provisioning changes across Asia. We rank countries.
• We further analyse specific underlying NPL recognition issues in China.
• We then rank a sample of regional banks and countries by NPL recognition.
• Later, we take a look at how different systems come under NPL stress and how they cope often in a crisis environment.
• Finally, we wrap things up with some concluding insights about the cultural backdrop which defines systemic asset quality.

3. Asian Telecom Tower Trends: A General Improvement with China Tower Leading the Way

In our latest Asian Tower Trends report, Chris Hoare looks at the listed telecom tower industry across the region. During 4Q18, we became more optimistic on the Asian tower space. 

• China: Last December, we upgraded what is by far the largest towerco globally, China Tower (788 HK), after it became clear the story was much better than disclosed at the time of the IPO (still a mystery as to why this happened),
• The Indian tower business has been buffeted by rapid industry consolidation but we think it is now near a bottom, and recently raised Bharti Infratel (BHIN IN) to Neutral, and
• Growth is improving in Indonesia with increased investment ex Java from the smaller operators. Protelindo (TOWR IJ) our preferred name, but Tower Bersama (TBIG IJ) has lagged badly recently and may be due some catch up. 

With the 5G investment cycle a key theme for coming years, we are now more constructive on the telecom tower space in general. 

4. China’s New Semiconductor Thrust – Part 2: Commodities as a Quick Path to Success

China’s current efforts to gain prominence in the semiconductor market targets memory chips – large commodities.  This three-part series of insights examines how China determined its strategy and explains which companies are the most threatened by it.

This second part of the series explains how China chose commodity semiconductors (DRAM and NAND flash memory chips) as the best technology to pursue.

5. Indian Election Antics

India is in an election year. Sensibility has gone out of the window, replaced by fantastical promises and irresponsible spending. If the Modi government is desperate hold on to power, the Congress Party is equally determine to wrest power away. And then there is the RBI, which working hand in glove with the government, cut policy rates again this month. We hope that cooler heads and more importantly objectivity will prevail once the elections are over, but further interest rate cuts cannot be ruled out at this stage. It follows that the rupee is vulnerable. We reiterate our underweight Indian equities call.