The biggest takeaway from yesterday’s Budget was that companies dependent on rural market (whether fast moving consumer goods, automobiles, affordable housing) or present in the infrastructure will be the biggest beneficiaries. “We believe the expected measures to reduce tax liability for individuals may provide a much-needed boost to the consumer-related sector. Furthermore, higher capital spending may help the defense, road and railways sectors,” Motilal Oswal said in a report.
While Mahindra and Mahindra is the standalone, direct and best/pure rural play, companies like Hindustan Unilever, Dabur, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki and Larsen and Toubro are broader picks of brokerages.
The above FMCG and auto companies derive 35-50 per cent of their revenues from rural markets. The allocation to the infrastructure sector in FY18 is at record level of Rs 3.96 trillion and will be mostly spent on segments like roads, irrigation, railways, defence, transmission and distribution of electricity. L&T is the best play on infrastructure sector due to presence in almost every category, diverse geographical presence and strong balance sheet.
Analysts also like most cement and select real estate companies due to infrastructure status given to the affordable housing. Cement companies will also gain from the thrust given to the infrastructure sector. Real estate companies like Ashiana Housing and Prestige Estates have found mentioned in the list of beneficiaries thanks to their presence in affordable housing. CanFin Homes is seen as the top pick among the non banking finance companies focused on affordable housing.
While budget did not throw any negative surprise on cigarettes (6 per cent increase in overall excise incidence, lower than estimated 10 per cent) and hence is positive for ITC, the outlook on the stock still remains hazy due to uncertainty ahead of implementation of goods and services tax.