Strides Arcolab Limited - PCB
Strides Arcolab Limited - PCB
Strides Arcolab Limited - PCB
Case background
Pharma industry worth $34 Billion
PROS CONS
No taxation either on 2 year blocking period on
company on shareholder taking new investment from
equity market even in case of
Gives choice to the investor new investment opportunity
to stay invested for new
Increase cost of capital in future
business or not
in case of debt as D/E ratio will
RoE and EPS will increase increase due to low equity
thereby raising market price Unequal distribution of money
of the share as not all investors will be able
to sell back the shares
Factors for Dividend Decision
Investment Opportunities
Stability in Earnings
Alternative Sources of Capital
Degree of Financial Leverage
Signaling Incentives
Clientele Effect
Factors for Dividend Policy
Tax-preference Theory
Investors preferred low dividend payouts
Bird-in-Hand Fallacy
Investors prefer high payouts
Clientele Effect
Investors bought the stock keeping in mind dividend
pay-out trend
Signaling effects
Investors tend to buy stocks in firms that had dividend
policies that match their preference for high, low or no
dividends.
Change in the Capital Structure
Strides decided to reduce debt from Mylan proceedings. As it had
experienced previous deals, net debt was reduced from $591.61 billion to
$298.62 billion
Year Debt to EBITDA Interest Coverage
2012 5.76 2.72
2013 2.53 3.45
Pharmaceuticals business did not require more CAPEX and Biologics business can
be financed from Mylan proceedings
So, it made sense to pay off the debt than to keep the cash in hand and pay
interest on debt. Also, Repo rate was increased by 525 basis points in recent times
and lending rates remained high, making debt expensive
The Indian Pharmaceutical sector has been debt heavy and international credit
rating agencies were downgrading Indias sovereign ratings making ECBs difficult.
Impact of Dividend Pay-out
Rating agencies will assign a higher rating to Strides because of lower DE ratio of
0.26 and higher interest coverage
Analysts will be sceptical about the valuation as negligible debt will increase
WACC which might lower Equity value
Managers could get more payout as interest expense will be lower and
companys assets will be free from covenants resulting in freedom of decision
making
Shareholders will be at advantage because of lower risk and higher distributable
profits but they will also be concerned as de leveraging will amount to higher
WACC and lower equity value
What Happened to Strides Arcolabs Dividend
Decision?
Dividend Pay-out Trend of Strides
Impact of Dividend Pay-out on Share
Price