Escorts Kubota Share price and Fundamental Analysis

Company History

Escorts Kubota Limited (Formerly known as Escorts Limited) is a leading engineering conglomerate operating in Agri-machinery, Construction & Material Handling Equipment and Railway Equipment. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of manufacturing of agricultural tractors, engines for agricultural tractors, construction, earth moving and material handling equipment, round and flat tubes, heating elements, double acting hydraulic shock absorbers for railways coaches, centre buffer couplers, automobile shock absorbers, telescopic front fork & Mcpherson struts, brake block, internal combustion engines and all types of brake used by railways. It also trades in oils & lubricants, implements, trailers, tractors, compressor accessories and spares, construction, earth moving and material handling equipment.

Escorts Kubota Limited was incorporated in the year October 17th, 1944 as Escorts Agents Ltd in Lahore. The company has diversified business in three different segments viz. Agri Machinery, Material Handling & Construction Equipment and Railway Equipment.

In the year 1951, Escorts established India's first private Institute of Farm Mechanisation at Delhi and in the year 1953, Escorts (Agents) Ltd and Escorts (Agriculture and Machines) Ltd merged to form Escorts Agents Pvt. Ltd. The company was converted into a public limited company in December 1959 and subsequently the name was changed to Escorts Ltd in January 1960.

In the year 1961, the company set up a manufacturing base at Faridabad for manufactures of tractors in collaboration with URSUS of Poland and launched Escort brand of tractors. Also, they made collaboration with CEKOP of Poland for manufacture of motorcycles and scooters. The first Rajdoot motorcycle rolls off the assembly line.

In the year 1969, Escorts Tractors Ltd made a technical and financial joint venture with the global giant Ford Motor Company, USA for manufacturing Ford tractors in India. And in February 1, 1971, the first tractor FORD 3000 rolled out of the factory.

In the year 1977, the company set up their first independent R&D Center namely Escorts Scientific Research Centre at Faridabad. Also, they set up their second plant at Bangalore for manufacturing piston assemblies. In the year 1979, they made collaboration with JCB Excavators Ltd., UK for manufacture of excavators.

In the year 1980, the company forayed into healthcare and set up Escorts Hospital and Research Center in Faridabad. In the year 1984, the company signed an agreement with the Japanese bike giant Yamaha to manufacture motorcycles with Yamaha technology. Also, they made collaboration with Jeumont Schneider of France and Dynapac of Sweden to manufacture EPABX systems and vibratory road compactors respectively.

In the year 1997, the company made a joint venture agreement with New Holland and launched Farmtrac Tractor. Also the made a joint venture with First Pacific Company of Hong Kong and formed Escotel Mobile Communications. In the year 1998, the company launched Powertrac tractors. They signed a MoU with Long Manufacturing Company of USA for setting up a Joint Venture in USA.

In the year 1999, the company signed a MoU with a Polish Company POL-MOT for assembling, manufacturing and marketing of Farm Machinery. In September 1999, they set up a subsidiary namely, Escosoft Technologies Ltd in the Information Technology Sector.

During the year 2001-02, the company sold their 26% shareholding in Yamaha Motors Escorts Ltd. They entered into an agreement with Claas KgaA, Germany, their joint venture partner in Escorts Claas Ltd for sale of their 60% equity in the joint venture for a consideration of Euro 13.2 million. During the year, Escorts Heart and Super Speciality Institute Ltd, Escorts Heart Centre Ltd, Automatrix India Pvt Ltd and Escorts Research and Development Ltd became the subsidiary companies.

During the year 2003-04, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre Ltd, a subsidiary company acquired 100% paid up equity capital of Escorts Hospital and Research Centre Ltd, which had multi-speciality hospital in Faridabad. In January 2004, the company entered into an agreement with Idea Cellular Ltd to divest their share in Escorts Telecommunication Ltd.

During the year 2004-05, the Escotoonz Entertainment Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary company completed the Project 'King-II' which was applauded in MIPCOM in France. In September 2005, the company entered into an agreement with Fortis Healthcare Ltd to divest their shares in Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre Ltd for a consideration of Rs 520 crore.

During the year 2005-06, the company set up a new manufacturing facility in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand for manufacture of new range of railway equipment. The company sold their stake in the software companies and also divested 49% stake in the joint venture, Carraro India Ltd in which the company is getting out of all the unrelated business and to remain focused on the three core businesses.

During the year 2006-07, the company embarked on entering into the manufacturing of shock absorbers for commercial vehicles.In 2010, Escorts became the first Indian company to indigenously design Backhoe Loaders. In 2011, Escorts launched India's first inverter tractor FT45.

In 2012, Escorts developed the most fuel-efficient tractors Powertrac 425. During the year, the company indigenously developed Bogie Mounted Brake Systems for Indian Railways. In 2013, Escorts launched Ferrari tractors - the world's best in specialty tractors - in collaboration with the Italian tractor brand.

In 2014, Escorts launched Farmtrac 4X4, introducing high-end car technology for Indian tractors.

In 2015, Escorts launched Anti-Lift Tractor - India's first lift-resistant tractors for commercial haulage operations. During the year, the company entered into Joint Venture with Amul Group for manufacturing of speciality tractors, Steeltrac. During the year, the company partnered with Cognizant Technology Solutions to digitally transform businesses and deliver superior customer experience.

In 2016, Escorts launched Farmtrac 6090 - a global tractor made in India. During the year, the company also launched Jungli - the high-power backhoe loader with brute force for tough operations. During the year, Escorts Skill Development Centre was established to develop technical skills and make people more employable.

On 11 August 2016, Escorts announced the divestment of its OEM & Export business of Auto Product division to Badve Engineering Ltd., Pune in an all cash deal as a part of the planned strategic reorientation of the business to focus on core verticals in the Agri-Machinery, Construction equipment and Railway equipment. The Auto Products business comprises an extensive product basket catering to OEMs and replacement market in India and overseas markets for all vehicle categories including motorcycles, scooters, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and multi-utility vehicles.On 6 September 2017, Escorts launched India's first Electric & Hydrostatic concept tractor and an expanded global portfolio of tractors for the export and domestic market in 22HP to 90 HP range under flagship brands Farmtrac and Powertrac compliant with tier 4 emission norms of Europe and America amidst 43 International distributors. This includes the flagship New Escorts Tractor Series (NETS) with higher horse power (70 to 90 HP), Compact tractors in 22 to 30 HP range, Crossover tractors for both paddy and haulage applications, tractors with cabin options for driving comfort, along with tier 4 emission norms compliant CRDi engines which will cater to customer demands from the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa and ASEAN countries apart from new generation farmers in India.

On 13 November 2017, Escorts introduced indigenously engineered Electric Tractor at Agritechnica 2017, Hanover, Germany.

On 5 February 2018, Escorts' Construction Equipment Division (Escorts Construction Equipment) announced entering into an exclusive distribution agreement with Doosan Infracore Co. Limited, South Korea (Doosan) for exclusive distributorship for sale and service of Doosan products for the entire Indian market. Doosan is a global leader in manufacturing and marketing of Crawler Excavators, Mini Excavators and Wheel Loaders. The product range offered by Doosan complements the current product offering of Escorts Construction Equipment. With this association with Doosan, Escorts Construction Equipment will be able to double its addressed market in Indian Construction Equipment (ICE) Industry from existing 40% to more than 80% by value.

On 2 April 2018, Escorts announced that the company has increased its shareholding in its subsidiary company i.e. Escorts Securities Limited to 78% from 49% by way of acquisition of additional 35 lakh shares. On the same day, Escorts announced that the company has sold its entire shareholding of 30% in its subsidiary company viz. Escorts Asset Management Limited (now name changed to Quant Money Managers Limited).

During FY March 31, 2019, the Company has infused additional equity capital in Escorts Crop Solutions Limited, subsidiary of the Company. The Company has also entered into two Joint Ventures with Japanese companies i.e. Tadano Limited and Kubota Corporation. It has made an investment of Rs 29.40 crores being 49% stake in the Equity Capital of Tadano Escorts India Private Limited being the Joint Venture of the Company with Tadano Limited, Japan and Rs 60 crores being 40% stake in the Equity Capital of Escorts Kubota India Private Limited being the Joint Venture of the Company with Kubota Corporation, Japan.

In 2019, the Company introduced India's first autonomous tractor concept. It collaborated with Kubota to develop value-oriented tractors that cater to farming requirements in India and overseas markets. It tied up with seven technology leaders like Microsoft, Reliance Jio, Trimble, Samvardhana Motherson Group, WABCO, Bosch and AVL. A joint venture was formed with JV, Tadano to produce specialized cranes that address high capacity use cases.

During FY'20, Company set up the Rajan Nanda Innovation Lab (RNIL) to incubate new, promising and disruptive business ideas. It launched India's first hybrid tractor concept, hybrid backhoe loader concept and multi-utility rural transport vehicle concept.

During FY March 31, 2020, the Company has infused additional equity capital in Escorts Crop Solutions Limited, subsidiary of the Company and Escorts Kubota India Private Limited, Joint Venture.

In FY 2021, the Company launched premium Whiteline series in ECE segment. It developed a brake system indigenously for RED. The Kubota tractor production was commenced and was the first company to receive Budni Certification for its electric tractors. A large number of products were introduced for domestic as well as export markets. In the Farmtrac portfolio, it launched new PowerMaxx series in higher HP and Champion series in lower HP segment and in Powertrac portfolio, NEXT series in higher hp and RDX series in lower hp segment.

During the year 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company had approved the allotment of 1,22,57,688 Equity Shares of Rs. 10/- each at a premium of Rs 840/- each for a total consideration of Rs 1041.90 crores to M/s Kubota Corporation, Japan.

During FY March 31, 2021, the Company has infused additional equity capital in Subsidiary, Escorts Crop Solutions Limited; Tadano Escorts India Private Limited, Joint Venture and Escorts Kubota India Private Limited, Joint Venture respectively. It has also entered into another Joint Venture with Kubota Corporation, Japan during the year. The Company has made an investment of Rs 90 crores being 40% stake in the Equity Capital of Kubota Agricultural Machinery India Private Limited being the Joint Venture of Company with Kubota Corporation.

During the FY 2021-22, the Company allotted 93,63,726 shares, on preferential allotment basis, of face value Rs. 10 each at a premium of Rs. 1990 each for a total consideration of Rs. 1,872.75 crores. During FY 2022, Escorts Limited & Kubota Corporation reinforce their long-standing partnership and Escorts Limited became Escorts Kubota Limited by increasing its stake in Escorts Limited, (a joint promoter along with existing promoter of Escorts). It launched 7 new products under EAM, 6 new products under ECE and 3 new products launched under RED.

During the FY ended on March 31, 2023, the Company sold entire 49% stake i.e. 7,27,65,000 equity shares of Rs 10/- each of Tadano Escorts India Private Limited (TEIPL), a joint venture between the Company and Tadano Limited, Japan (Tadano), to Tadano, at Rs 0.01 Cr. on November 9, 2022. Further, the Company acquired the entire equity share capital of Escorts Corp Solutions Limited (ECSL), apart from the existing equity shares already held by the Company. Consequently, ECSL became the wholly owned subsidiary of the Company w.e.f. January 18, 2023.

The Company launched 3 new products in FY' 23 which includes, Brake Pad, Brake Disc and Metro Dampers. It launched India's first hybrid Pick-n-Carry Crane and mono chassis safe crane. Under Powertrac, it launched 434 DS Plus and 439 DS Plus - Haulage Special Tractor with Hub Reduction Anti Lift Technology and 37 HP and 41 HP Engine Power, respectively.