IndiaMART
HC grants ex-parte injunction to Indiamart in trademark infringement case
MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte injunction in favour of Indiamart Intermesh and has restrained an individual from using the mark ‘Indiamart’. A Sameer Samim Khan fraudulently tried to misguide the masses by posing as the company’s representative and offered them work from home job opportunities.
A bench led by Justice Pratibha Singh said, “Petitioner (Indiamart) has made out a prima facie case for ex parte ad interim injunction If the activities of defendant (Sameer Khan) are not nipped in the bud, irreparable injury would be caused not only to the company, but also to public at large that may be deceived by the fraudulent activities of defendant. Accordingly, defendant shall stand restrained from using the mark / name / domain name ‘INDIAMART’ or any other mark or name or domain name which is identical or confusingly / deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s mark ‘INDIAMART’.”
The court also held that it was clear that the defendant was passing off and indulging in fraudulent activity by showcasing himself as the company representative and collecting various sums of money by allegedly offering job opportunities. The website leaves no doubt in the mind of the court that the entire business of defendant is mala fide, dishonest and illegal and also contrary to law.
Indiamart Intermesh had filed a suit for permanent injunction seeking protection against the website https://india-mart.co/. The company also alleged that without prior permission Khan illegally used its mark for the purpose of deceiving and duping the general public and trade by misrepresenting himself as the company’s representative.
Essentially, Indiamart, is a business to business (B2B) portal providing internet based marketplace/platform with free and paid listings for promotion of industry, products and services. The platform operates as an interactive platform between buyers and sellers. The Indiamart platform, apart from having an online web-portal, also has a mobile application where businesses can advertise their products.
Moreover, the company also stated that it coined and adopted the mark Indiamart in 1996 and also registered its domain name http://www.indiamart.com in the same year. Adding that the mark has become distinctive of the firm’s product and services owing to the large reputation built since inception.The turnover of the company for the year 2020-2021 is stated to be to the tune of ₹665 crore rupees.
Further, in August 2022, it came to the company’s notice that Khan under the guise of being a company representative offered a Data Entry Project’. For which he was also offering various plans which could be availed by anyone after payment of application fees of Rs. 899 and ₹1199. He also used the company’s domain to send such job opportunities. Resultantly, the court also directed the fake domain name used by Khan to be blocked and has asked the Cyber Unit, Delhi to carry out necessary investigation in the matter.
Vyapar’s revenue touches Rs 20 Cr in FY22, losses shoot up over 4X
Business accounting software aka digital ledger or bookkeeping space witnessed heightened interest from venture capital firms in 2019. As a result, the segment’s posterboys: OkCredit and Khatabook collectively raked in close to $175 million from investors such as Lightspeed, Sequoia, B Capital and Tencent among others.
While OKCredit and Khatabook were chasing growth until FY21 and continued to bleed during the last fiscal year, Indiamart-backed Vyapar has been growing steadily with better unit economics for the last two fiscal years. The Bengaluru-based company registered an 84.3% growth in its operating revenue to Rs 20 crore from Rs 10.86 crore in FY21, as per its annual financial statements filed with the Registrar of Company (RoC).
Vyapar also booked an income of Rs 88 lakh from interest income during FY22.
Founded by Sumit Agarwal and Shubham Agarwal in 2016, Vyapar helps SMEs keep track of their receivables and payables, inventory management, send customized invoices, payment reminders and transaction messages in multiple languages. The platform claims to have more than 10 million customers.
On the expense front, employee benefits expense emerged as the largest cost center for the company, contributing 49% to the total annual expenditure. This cost ballooned over 2.5X to Rs 27.81 crore in FY22 from Rs 10.93 crore during FY21.
As per Fintrackr’s analysis, advertising & marketing expenses contributed 28% of the total expenses. These costs shot up 3X to Rs 15.85 crore in FY22 from Rs 5.24 crore in the preceding fiscal year (FY21). Similarly, commission charges surged 2.2X to Rs 1.13 crore during the last fiscal year.
Vyapar also incurred IT & communication costs of Rs 3.76 crore in FY22 which include charges of API services, bulk SMS cost, payment gateway charges, et al. These cost elements surged nearly 2.6X from Rs 1.46 crore in FY21. In total, the annual expenses of the startup jumped 2.8X to Rs 56.7 crore in FY22 from Rs 20 crore during FY21.
In line with annual expenses, losses of Vyapar also shot up 4.3X to Rs 26.61 crore in FY22 from Rs 6.18 crore during FY21. On a unit level, the company spent Rs 2.83 to earn a rupee of operating revenue during FY22.
The 2.8X jump in annual expenditure led to the company’s EBITDA margin worsening to -168.21% during FY22 from -68.87% in FY21.
In the last quarter of FY22, Vyapar had scooped $30 million in its Series B round led by WestBridge Capital. The proceeds will help Vyapar to ramp up its game against its major competitor Khatabook which raised $100 million in August last year. Significantly, OKCredit is no longer a significant player in the bookkeeping space and is currently looking for buyerswith a steep discount in its valuation.
For Indiamart, which is an early investor from Vyapar’s Series A round in 2019, the returns, besides the valuation jump, are probably already coming in, assuming that Vyapar spends on the platform besides offering its services to Indiamart’s own user base of SMEs, easily the largest such platform in the country now.
Is There Now An Opportunity In IndiaMART InterMESH Limited (NSE:INDIAMART)?
IndiaMART InterMESH Limited (NSE:INDIAMART), is not the largest company out there, but it led the NSEI gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. With many analysts covering the stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Let’s examine IndiaMART InterMESH’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.
Is IndiaMART InterMESH Still Cheap?
IndiaMART InterMESH appears to be expensive according to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company’s price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that IndiaMART InterMESH’s ratio of 56.68x is above its peer average of 23.2x, which suggests the stock is trading at a higher price compared to the Trade Distributors industry. Another thing to keep in mind is that IndiaMART InterMESH’s share price is quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards the levels of its industry peers over time, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once it’s there, it may be hard for it to fall back down into an attractive buying range again.
What kind of growth will IndiaMART InterMESH generate?
Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. IndiaMART InterMESH’s earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 80%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in INDIAMART’s positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. At this current price, shareholders may be asking a different question – should I sell? If you believe INDIAMART should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on INDIAMART for some time, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for INDIAMART, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
Buy IndiaMART InterMESH, target price Rs 4920: JM Financial
JM Financial has buy call on IndiaMART InterMESH with a target price of Rs 4920. The current market price of IndiaMART InterMESH NSE -1.12 % is Rs 4345. Time period given by analyst is one year when IndiaMART NSE -1.12 % InterMESH Ltd. price can reach deQned target.
IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd., incorporated in the year 1999, is a Mid Cap company (having a market cap of Rs 13398.16 Crore) operating in Services sector.
IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd. key Products/Revenue Segments include Income From Information Services for the year ending 31-Mar-2021.
For the quarter ended 30-06-2022, the company reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 225.58 Crore, down -2.30 % from last quarter Total Income of Rs 230.90 Crore and up 6.91 % from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 211.00 Crore. Company reported net proQt after tax of Rs 53.66 Crore in latest quarter.
Investment Rationale
The brokerage believes IndiaMART remains well-poised to report strong Consol. Revenue/EBITDA/EPS CAGR of 18%/26%/33% over FY23-25E due to robust collections trends and operating leverage in its core business. It re- iterates ‘BUY’ rating and roll-forward DCF (FCFF CAGR of 13.3% over the next 15 years, 5% terminal growth rate and 12% WACC) to set a Sep’23 TP of INR 4,920 (vs. INR 4,800 earlier). Its TP implies Sep’23 PER of 42x.
Market Trading Guide: Raymond, Indiamart among 4 stock recommendations for Monday
Domestic benchmark indices were a bit volatile on Friday’s trade but remained optimistic throughout the week. Nifty concluded this week with a rise of 1.6 per cent after two weeks of decline. “The benchmark index Nifty gained over 1.5 per cent and reclaimed the 17,900 mark amid the positive global cues. Recovery in the world markets along with fresh buying by the FIIs in cash market boosted the local sentiments. On the lower end, Nifty took a dip near 17,500 and from there it recovered,” said Mehul Kothari, AVP – Technical Research, Anand Rathi. Here are 4 stock recommendations for Monday:
IndiaMART
Buy range Rs 4,700-4,790 | Target: Rs 5,050 | Stop loss: Rs 4,450
The stock was trading in an inverse head and shoulder pattern from the last six months on the daily chart and has recently broken out and retested whereas, on the weekly timeframe, the scrip has broken out of a downward sloping channel pattern which will act as a confluence to the view. The super trend indicator (8, 2) is indicating the continuation of the bullish trend and the momentum oscillator RSI (14) is at around 67 showing strength by sustaining higher levels.
5 companies that help small businesses grow
The Indian economy is classed as a mixed economy, where both public and private sectors exist, function, and thrive in harmony. In recent years, the Indian economy in recent years has risen to prominent heights, thereby registering its presence on the global economic landscape. Currently, India is the world’s 5th largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 3rd largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is noteworthy that small and mid-size businesses form an integral part of the Indian economic paradigm. After agriculture, small businesses are the second largest employment provider in the Indian economy. Small business enterprises generate the most employment opportunities per unit of capital invested In comparison to big-scale industries. 95% of the industrial units in the Indian economy comprise small-scale ventures, and 40% of total industrial output is generated by small-scale enterprises. The vision of India turning into a $5 trillion economy by 2025 is contingent on the success of small and mid-level businesses. As small-scale business ventures form a sizeable part of the Indian economy, their progression is crucial to the success of India as an economic power. Over the past few decades, the importance and calibre of the small-scale industry have been duly realised by the government of India and several monetary schemes and plans have been introduced to render fiscal benefits to the small and mid-level enterprises. However, there are various hurdles that small-scale businesses face in contemporary times. The persistent flow of adequate funds forms the foundation of any commercial venture. The ability to get loans sanctioned often is a challenge for small-scale businesses due to lower creditworthiness and the lack of formal documents required for the aforementioned process. Lack of digitisation in the era of the electronic revolution and fraud and delays in payments also impede the routine functions of small-scale and medium enterprises. Fortunately, there are credit-granting firms, micro-savings platforms, and several loan agencies in the market to help small-scale ventures to thrive by granting them easy loans, convenient access to finances without the formalities of paperwork etc. Mentioned hereby are the companies that help small businesses to thrive in India:
- Castler: The persistent flow of finances forms the foundation of any business venture. The timely, smooth, and convenient monetary transactions ensure the proper execution of the business plans and strategies. Any kind of inauthentic or fraudulent activity can be a great threat to the security of the business. Potential frauds breach the privacy of an enterprise and thus impede business progression. Fortunately, there are online platforms which can protect enterprises, especially small-scale businesses, from such pernicious frauds. Castler is an online platform which leverages technology, expertise, and innovation to make escrow services more accessible and convenient for enterprises and consumers alike by digitising the escrow process. The platform shields businesses with its dedicated multi-party protection system and different levels of authentication. Castler is a boon for the small-scale industry as it provides multiple services in addition to fraud protection like digital lending, business loans, money pool, dealer distributorship, software escrow, logistics etc. The platform has assisted various enterprises by securing money in its escrow pool which amounts to INR 2500 crore. Backed by leading banks, Castler aims to provide swift, smart, and convenient business solutions to its customers with services like real-time notifications, trusteeship assurance, access to a real-time dashboard, lowest cost solution, convenient esigning of escrow agreement etc. With its abundant commercial benefits and a sound immunity against frauds, Castler is one of the best online platforms for small-scale enterprises to secure their ventures against fraud and financially too.
- Protium: Monetary funds are the basic requirement for business progression. Convenient sourcing of the finances can be challenging at times for small-scale enterprises due to reasons like lack of formal documents etc. Protium is a blessing for small-scale enterprises and also ambitious individuals who need easy loans to grow their enterprises. Protium is an Engineering-Driven Pan India lending company with a keen eye on risk management which empowers small and medium-scale businesses by granting them loans conveniently. Founded with the intense vision of incorporating the latest technology to fasten and enhance money lending solutions, Protium will have 100 branches operating in 65 cities across 17 states in India by the end of FY 2022. Operating under the sub-titles Protium Finance, Protium Money, and Protium Sakshara, the platform lends easy loans up to any ticket size from INR 10,000 to INR 5 Crore to small and medium enterprises, aspiring individuals, and educational institutions across India. With the specialised lending services in MSME/business finance with machinery and equipment finance, Protium is the first choice of small businesses across India to get loans sanctioned easily. The platform has successfully disbursed INR 750+ Crore loans to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across India during the turbulent times of the pandemic to revive the small businesses. Protium grants loan up to 300 lakhs and funding up to 80% of the costs to encourage small and medium-scale business enterprises. The finance lending brand has the mission to build powerful and transformative financing solutions to fuel the ambitions of New India and its budding enterprises. Protium, as a lending platform with its brand philosophy of building a strong and stable foundation by fuelling the ambitions of booming enterprises, is a boon for small-scale industries.
- IndiaMART: The mutually beneficial coordination of the demand and supply equation is necessary for the success of any commercial venture. Especially in the case of small-scale industries, the amiable correspondence in-between the buyers and suppliers leads to profit generation. Finding a suitable buyer for small-scale enterprise products can be challenging for entrepreneurs sometimes. IndiaMART is India’s largest online B2B marketplace which connects buyers with suppliers and thus, provides optimal services to small-scale industries. An enterprise can feature their products or services on IndiaMART and can find the apt buyers conveniently on the platform. Headquartered in Noida, the platform was launched in 1996 as a website directory for the customers in Delhi-NCR. IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd. is an Indian e-commerce company that provides B2B and customer-to-customer sales services via its web portal. IndiaMART is a popular online platform among the fraternity of small-scale buyers and suppliers due to its efficient and convenient service model. IndiaMART has registered traffic of 257 million and Total business enquiries of 115 million during Q1 FY23. Supplier Storefronts grew to 7.2 million, an increase of 10% YoY (Year over Year) and paying subscription suppliers grew by 23% YoY to 179,260 with a net addition of 9,936 paying subscription suppliers during the quarter. The platform’s successful sales, promotions and merchandising strategies have rendered big profits to the enterprises. As a platform which connects buyers and sellers across borders and time zones through business solutions, IndiaMART has assisted numerous small and mid-scale businesses to thrive and generate sizeable revenue.
- DigiChal: In an era of technological evolution and digitalisation, any enterprise must be digitally sound and updated to run the business efficiently. The commercial ecosystem in the contemporary era is highly advanced and technology-oriented. It is the indispensable need of the hour for every aspiring individual or enterprise to catch up with the ever-evolving technology. Founded in 2021, DigiChal is an online platform which caters to all the digital needs of small-scale enterprises and offline store owners. The platform is smartly devised to handle and keep track of the enterprise’s monetary transactions. DigiChal nurtures a brand vision to become a digital SAATHI (Companion) of small-scale enterprises by providing them with cost-effective and proficient services. DigiChal offers a variety of services like online acceptance and delivery of orders, digital ledger, shop insurance, convenient financing on best interest rates, online payments through QR codes, store branding, creating custom discount coupons etc. The platform has an ideology of making small-scale businesses an integral part of the digital economy. With so many independent enterprises with small and mid-scale commercial ventures joining in indeed an innovative and progressive digital platform which is made for India & made in India.
- Meesho: Social media is rife in contemporary times. From being the best source to acquiring knowledge on different skill-sets to mint money online, social media has imparted diverse opportunities to individuals and enterprises to thrive. Small-scale businesses use social media to promote their enterprise successfully. Founded in 2015, Meesho is a platform that helps an individual or a small-scale venture to start and build their business online with zero investment. The platform is widely based on the concept of reselling goods. As a reseller, an enterprise or an individual can share products listed on the Meesho app either on their network or on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc. and can earn a share of profit with every sale. There are over 1 Lakh beauty, fashion and lifestyle products featured on Meesho through which considerable profits can be earned. The products are provided by suppliers who have a tie-up with Meesho. Meesho offers the perfect platform for small-scale enterprises to start their entrepreneurial journey by establishing an online presence at no cost. Almost 90% of the users on the reselling platform are ambitious women from tier-2 and tier-3 cities across India who aspire to start their businesses. Meesho, as an online e-commerce platform, has imparted an opportunity and liberty to individuals and enterprises who want to venture into the commercial landscape with zero investments. The overall success of an economy is contingent upon the progression of its sub-sectors. Small-scale industry forms a significant part of the Indian economy, and its success is pivotal for the whole nation to prosper. In an era of evolving technology and digitalisation, the mentioned platforms have transformed the way in which small businesses operate, which marks the economic and technological progression of small and mid-level enterprises
