Incorporated in 1989, Associated Alcohols & Breweries Ltd (AABL) is one of the largest distilleries in India and the
flagship company of the Associated Kedia Group with interests in liquor manufacturing and bottling. It is among the few
companies with presence in every aspect of the value chain from potable alcohol, country liquor, Extra Neutral Alcohol
(ENA), grain spirit (extra fine grade, triple distilled), rectified spirit, Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) to bottling scotch
whisky. It has its own IMFL brands across an entire range of whisky, rum, gin and vodka to cater to Indian customers and
even boasts of having a strong portfolio of popular brands such as Red & White, James McGill and Bombay Special in
whisky, London Bridge in gin and Jamaican Magic in rum. Besides, AABL is a leader in Madhya Pradesh and sells
country liquor in 10 districts through the government and sells approx 2.5 million cases annually. Apart from marketing
its own brands, AABL also manufactures and bottles IMFL and Scotch Whisky for many Indian and international
companies. Broadly, it derives 25% of its revenue from country liquor, 25% from the IMFL segment and balance 50%
comes from bulk supply of ENA and grain spirit.
AABL has a sophisticated manufacturing facility at Khodigram in Indore-Madhya Pradesh, with rare operational
flexibility to manufacture alcohol through the grains and molasses route and is thus insulated against raw material, price
or supply volatility. With record grain prices, most of its alcohol is produced from molasses. Presently, it has an installed
production capacity of 42 million litres per annum. However, plant is working at 70% capacity utilisation as it produced
30 million litres in FY08. In addition, the company has 10 bottling lines in two different sections equipped to pack around
1,00,000 cases per month. Remarkably, AABL is a sole supplier of triple distilled fine grade grain spirit to Diageo for
Smirnoff Vodka in India. It is also the only liquor company in India bottling Glen Drummond single malt Scotch Whisky
for Mason & Summers, a leading liquor company. It also manufactures and bottles reputed international brands like Haig
Scotch Whisky, Captain Morgan Rum, Master Stroke Royal Classic Whisky etc. At the same time, it is looking to market
its own brand in the international market.
To capture domestic and global demand and increase its share, AABL has chalked out a huge greenfield expansion plan
under a capex of Rs.50 cr. to re-configure its production process to extract greater efficiency. Accordingly, it is setting up a
multi-pressure ENA plant to replace the older plant and increase the installed capacity to 65 million litres per annum. It
also intends to put up a 2 MW bio-gas fuelled cogeneration captive power plant with a new 20 tonnes per hour boiler.
Further, a Reverse Osmosis water treatment plant with a 1,650 cubic mt. capacity per day is being set up and a plant to
collect, pressurise and sell carbon dioxide is being considered. However, all of the above projects are expected to complete
by mid-2009.
Meanwhile, AABL has been able to
improve its profit margin due to strict
cost control. It has recorded 200 bps
increase in OPM to 8% in FY08 from 6%
in FY07 and is further slated to register
10% OPM for FY09. Its sales increased
by 50% to Rs.120 cr. and PAT zoomed
up 140% to Rs.5.60 cr. for FY08 posting
an EPS of Rs.8 on its current equity of
Rs.6.80 cr. However, the company has
allotted 35 lakh warrants in June 2007,
which will get converted by December
2008 at Rs.24 per share and will dilute
its equity by 50% to Rs.10 cr. So for FY09
on the back of better capacity
utilization, AABL may clock a turnover
of Rs.150 cr. and with PAT of Rs.7 cr.,
which translates into EPS of Rs.7 on its
fully diluted equity of Rs.10 cr. At a fair
valuation by 8 times, the scrip can shoot
up to Rs.60 within a year. But equity
dilution is a concern as to fund its capex
the company is looking to raise Rs.30 cr.
by equity, route which may further
dilute the equity to Rs.15 cr. Also as the
promoters are not investor friendly, it is
not recommended for long-term
investment.