JP Morgan Raises Bosch Target
JP Morgan analysts have retained their 'Overweight' rating on Bosch and raised their target price to Rs 9,600 from Rs 7,900 before. The company's margins rose in the January-March quarter despite rising material costs and depreciating currency. Moreover, rising popularity of diesel cars should drive growth for the company, analysts led by Aditya Makharia said. The company is increasing the localization of its manufacturing of pumps and injectors for diesel engines into India and is also spending Rs 300 crore in 2012 to expand its capacity in Nasik. The revised target price is based on a valuation of 19x one-year forward earnings, the analysts said.
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CA Mihir Desai
Bosch, German automotive component maker is planning to double its vehicle servicing centers up to 3,000 outlets in the next three years. At present, the entity operates a total of 1,500 service centers for different types of vehicles. Of these, 500 are for passenger vehicles, while 800 are for commercial vehicles and 200 are for other types of vehicles.
Recently, it has forayed into two-wheeler servicing and has opened 11 Express Bike Service (EBS) outlets in Coimbatore and Delhi. Last week, Bosch, auto components major has introduced 100 service centers in north India, for bridging the large gap in service network in the country. It has launched 10 outlets in Delhi, 47 in Uttar Pradesh and 43 in Punjab, Chandigarh and Panchkula collectively. These centers will offer service to multi brand vehicles across different segments of unit repair including fuel injection systems, auto electrical units and entire vehicular repair.As part of its aggressive plans for service network expansion, Bosch Automotive Aftermarkets (BAA) has expanded its network of service centers by opening 127 new outlets in Eastern India. The company has opened 18 outlets in West Bengal, 24 in Guwahati, 30 in Bihar, 33 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in Jharkhand and 17 outlets in Odisha. This expansion drive is in addition to the recent launch of 100 service centres in North India.
The move is intended to bridge the large service network gap in the country. These centres will provide service to multi-brand vehicles across different segments of unit repair (Fuel Injection Systems, Auto Electrical Units) and entire vehicular repair.
BAA is a division of Bosch, a supplier of technology and services in the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods and building technology. The company has 16 training centres countrywide where the workshops have easy access to the latest technology know how.
Bosch has reported results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012.
The company has reported 38.80% fall in its net profit at Rs 172.05 crore as compared to Rs 281.14 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income from the operation of the company has increased by 4.50% at Rs 2245.10 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 2148.47 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.
For the year ended December 31, 2012, the company has posted a fall of 14.64% in its net profit at Rs 958.17 crore as compared to Rs 1122.56 crore for the same period in the previous year. However, total income from operation has increased by 6.39% at Rs 9028.30 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 8486.05 crore for the period ended December 31, 2011