Wonderla rises as amusement park reopens
South Indian amusement park chain Wonderla Holidays has re-opened its Bengaluru park, albeit only on weekends and public holidays. The park will run at 40% visitor capacity and at reduced entry-ticket rates. The reopening comes after a closure of over seven months, which led to near zero revenues for the first half of this fiscal as compared to ₹160 crore in the same period last year. However, resumption of operations and cost-cutting measures undertaken over the last two quarters have triggered investor interest in the company. The stock gained 8.8% today.
VIP hopes for demand revival to fuel growth
VIP Industries, Asia’s leading luggage maker, posted a weak Q2 performance, but its losses narrowed from ₹51 crore in Q1 to ₹35 crore in Q2. The company has embarked on a serious cost-cutting exercise and managed to reduce its employee and other expenses by 15% in Q2. Meanwhile, sales nearly doubled from ₹58 crore to ₹108 crore. Further, it plans to cut costs worth ₹180 crore in this fiscal and has stated that 50% of the cost-cutting measures are likely to continue even after sales return to normal levels. Additionally, multiple news stories of vaccines for Covid-19 are building hopes of a faster-than-expected recovery in the travel sector. The stock is up 7.8% today and has gained more than 28.6% in this month.
M&M to make light-weight tractors
The country’s largest tractor maker has announced plans to manufacture light-weight tractors at its Telangana facility. Further, it plans to invest additional ₹100 crore at its existing tractor plant in Telangana. Tractor demand was resilient during the earlier part of this fiscal, when the country was battling lockdown. Even now, tractor manufacturers continue to witness strong retail demand supported by expectations of a higher kharif output and good cash flow in the market. While the offtake numbers during Diwali will be available only in the first week of December, tractor makers are optimistic about volumes given that the demand is currently outpacing supply. Meanwhile, with plans for the new tractor series it seems that M&M is putting money where its mouth is. The stock is up 10.6% today and has gained nearly 18.8% this month.