Strong All-Round Performance by Aditya Birla Capital
When asked about Aditya Birla Capital’s quarterly numbers, Agrawal said the company has delivered a robust performance across its business segments.
“So, just a broader number which I could look at is that, so their lending portfolio has grown by closer to 20-25% on NBFC side and on housing side it is in 65% growth,” he noted, highlighting the healthy momentum in credit growth.
He added that both the asset management and insurance businesses have also posted encouraging numbers. “Asset management business again seems to be doing well. There also we have seen a kind of 11% year-over-year growth in quarterly average AUM. And at the same time, life insurance business has seen 19% year-over-year growth in terms of margin collection with the VNB margin at 11.6% and health insurance business 31% growth on gross premium collection.”
According to him, this indicates “a very broad-based growth as far as all the businesses are concerned.” Agrawal, however, cautioned that investors should check whether any one-off in the base quarter may have impacted the reported profit growth. “Operationally, numbers seem to be pretty strong for Aditya Birla Capital,” he said.
LIC Housing Finance Fails to Impress; Smaller Players Favoured
On the housing finance space, Agrawal remained cautious on LIC Housing Finance, despite its attractive valuation.
“LIC Housing Finance has not been able to deliver growth in a scenario where all the other smaller players are delivering a fantastic growth,” he said. “So again, seems to be a case of clear underperformance as far as growth is concerned. So, despite of trading at a very cheaper valuation would like to avoid LIC Housing Finance,” he added.
Instead, Agrawal prefers other mid-tier players in the sector. “Would like to prefer other smaller player like PNB Housing came out with a decent number although there is overhang of management change over there and in addition to that we continue to remain bullish on Home First as well as India Shelter Finance,” he noted.
Sagility’s Healthcare Play Holds Promise
Turning to Sagility, which surged nearly 8% in trade following its earnings announcement, Agrawal expressed optimism about the company’s outlook.
“Yes, definitely a very strong set of number by Sagility on healthcare story of United States of America and at the same time we have seen a minor upgrade in terms of growth guidance for fiscal year 26,” he said.
He pointed out that the stock remains reasonably valued given its profitability potential. “Even if I ascribe a 30 time in price to earnings multiple, the company has got a potential to deliver a kind of 1000 crore annual profitability. So, 30,000 crore market cap I believe is a fair value of Sagility wherein the current market cap is closer to 25,000 crore number,” Agrawal explained.
With this backdrop, he expects a meaningful upside. “So, 20% upside is something which one can expect from Sagility over the period of next 6 to 12 months,” he said.
Analyst’s Takeaway
Agrawal’s commentary underscores a preference for diversified financials with balanced growth across verticals and nimble housing finance players over traditional heavyweights. His bullish stance on Sagility also reflects a growing investor appetite for healthcare-driven IT and BPO stories linked to the U.S. market.
