Shivalik Bimetal Controls Ltd (Market
cap - Rs.408 crore)
Shivalik Bimetal Controls Ltd (Shivalik) is engaged in manufacturing of
Bimetals and Shunt Resistors. The company’s plant is located at Solan, Himachal
Pradesh. The company is led by Ghumman and Sandhu families. Mr. NS Ghumman, the
MD of the company, is considered to be one of the pioneers in bimetal industry.
The company was earlier into manufacturing of cathode ray tube (CRT) but the
demand for the product declined significantly post introduction of LED and LCD
television.
Shunt Resistors - I am more
excited by the shunt resistor segment and will talk about it more. Over the
past two years, whatever growth has happened in the company seems to be mainly
on account of shunt resistors. Electronic beam welded (EBM) shunt resistors are
primarily used to detect current. The company has developed shunt resistors
which are used in battery management system (BMS) of electric vehicles. In BMS,
shunt resistor play a key role because if the detection of current is not
accurate, the current can damage the battery. Although, there are thousands of
shunt resistor manufacturing companies in the world, from whatever research
some of us have done, it seems that the ones which make shunt resistors for
detecting low ohmic current (in micro amperes) and that have low temperature
coefficients (able to withstand high temperature and not loose their current
detection capabilities) are hardly few. From whatever research some of us have
done, it seems that currently there is limited competition for the shunt
resistor used in BMS with hardly few players manufacturing it. Furthermore, the
key technology for shunt resistor manufactured by the company is the welding
through EBM machines. Although, the contribution of shunt resistors in overall
BMS is pretty small, but its is a very important part of it.
The company has an established relationship with one of the large semiconductor
companies based out of US and it has been one of Shivalik’s biggest customers.
The customer is a diversified electronics company and manufactures range of
electronic components like diodes, resistors etc. The customer supplies shunt
resistors to BMS manufacturing companies who in turn supply to electric vehicle
manufacturers (Shivalik being a tier III OEM supplier to EVs). It seems that
the company has been working on shunt resistors for a long time. As per some
scuttlebutt, it seems that company has also been trying to supply directly to
EV manufacturers. It takes years to get approval from large vendors due to
their stringent qualification criteria. The company also has some of the
important certification required for supplying such products for Automobile
applications like TS 16949. It also follows standards outlined by the
Automotive Electronics Council (AEC). Apart from usage in BMS of EVs, the shunt
resistors are also used in smart meters used by electricity distribution
companies. With increasing automation of cars, the usage of shunt resistor is
expected to increase.
Snapshot of discussion mentioned in FY17 AR of the company:
Bimetals: Bimetal refers to
an object that is composed of two separate metals joined together. Instead of
being a mixture of two or more metals, like alloys, bimetallic objects consist
of layers of different metals. Bimetals have application where current or temperature
detection is required. Bimetals are mainly used in circuit breakers, trippers,
electronic alarms, fire alarm etc. The company is amongst the largest players
in bimetals in the world. The company has established clients like Honeywell,
Siemens, L&T, Havells etc. The company is one of the few (in some case the
only one) local supplier of bimetals to many MNC companies. The sales of
bimetals has largely remained flat over the past few years primarily as it is a
proxy play on real estate which is facing headwinds over the past few year.
Furthermore, the size of the market is also limited. The company is trying to
make a headway into export markets but getting vendor approval takes time. The
company is also working with defence for supply of some material (hardly any
sales now) and disc grade bimetals (used in high end geyser).
The key thing in both shunt resistors and bimetals is to get an entry into an
established customer which also acts as an entry barrier. The company’s major
raw material is copper alloy which is being imported currently and is in short
supply. The company seems to be able to pass on volatility in raw material
prices and forex to its customer. On account of increasing demand of shunt
resistor, the company has started working on a capex plan to triple its
capacity in both bimetal and shunt resistor space.
What attracted me
to the company?
• Proxy play of EVs: The company has been able to break
into the EV space and the demand for the product can be exponential.
Furthermore, there seems to be limited competition for the product.
• Technocrat promoters and focus on R&D: The company is
mainly run by the family members of Ghumman and Sandhu family. Most of the
family members have engineering background. Mr NS Ghumman himself is considered
to be a pioneer in bimetal space. The company seems to have an established
R&D and has continuously come up with new products (in the past the company
was supplying CRT tubes and suddenly the demand fell of the cliff due to
introduction of LED and LCD TVs, company however bounced back from the setback
successfully). The company also has a lab to test its product
• Established customer base: The company has
an established customer base in both shunt and bimetal segment. Such customer
base does act as an entry barrier for other entrants.
Key Risks
• Valuations: This year, the
company might do EPS of around Rs.3.5 and is thus trading at PE valuation of 30
times which is not cheap by any means. Furthermore, there seems to be a onetime
write off of Rs.6 crore this year (just an assumption) of long term trade
receivables (of CRT customers) from P&L out of which around Rs.2 crore
seems to have been written off during H1FY18. Despite adjusting that, the stock
is richly valued.
• Technology obsolescence risk and increase in
competition: The company faces technology obsolescence risk for shunt resistors.
Although, currently there are not many options available for detection of
current in BMS, it seems that some other technology like Hall Effect Sensors
can replace shunt resistors. Furthermore, the competition for the product might
increase with increasing market size especially from Chinese and Korean
companies who are leaders in semiconductor space.
Please note that the size of
the company is small. Typically, small companies show a large variation in
their fundamentals and also are relatively illiquid. This can cause a large
volatility in their stock price movement. These companies should be considered
by investors who have a high-risk appetite. Please do your own research before
investing
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