Six Indian Companies In Barclays Top 133 Stocks For 2015

MUMBAI: Investment banking major Barclays selected six Indian companies as the top 133 stock picks from across the world for 2015, including Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Bharti Airtel among others.

The six Indian companies, including Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Lupin and Voltas, are listed in the investment major's 'Global Top Picks' which presents 133 stocks, reflecting top companies from across the globe.

The report said Reliance Industries is expected to gain with a rebound in domestic E&P (exploration and production) and that the macro environment appears supportive for the company as well with downstream margins rising despite lower oil prices.

"We expect Reliance's EPS (earning per share) and ROCE (return on capital employed) to nearly double in FY16-21E - one of the highest among the global energy stocks we cover," the report said.

"While the inflection point is likely still a year away, the catalysts for this should fall into place in the next 6 to 12 months as Reliance completes its $16 billion downstream capex and launches its $12 billion telecom project."

On Tata Consultancy Services, the report said that it expects the company to outpace industry growth led by strength in large deal wins and continued efforts in account mining.

"Furthermore, as the largest Indian vendor in the high-growth infrastructure management services (IMS) and business process outsourcing (BPO) space, we believe TCS is well positioned to benefit from increasing demand in these areas," the report said.

The report further cited telecom Bharti Airtel to be the biggest beneficiary of constructive competitive and regulatory dynamics in the Indian telecom sector.

"As the largest telecom operator in India (both by subscribers and revenues), Airtel is also well placed to ride the next wave of growth in wireless data usage - we expect nationwide data revenues to grow six times between FY14 and FY22E," the investment bank said.

The report said that given material operating leverage, Airtel's revenue growth is expected at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 11 percent over FY14-FY17E driving EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) and profits CAGR of 15 percent and 66 percent respectively.

The investment bank expects global equities to generate a total return of nine percent in 2015 and forecasts of earnings growth of 12 percent.

"At the start of 2014, investors were concerned about how risk assets would adjust to less accommodative central bank policy across the world, and Fed policy withdrawal in particular," said Jon Scoffin, head of equity research, Barclays.

"Defying expectations, asset prices moved in opposite direction to the consensus view: fixed income rallied and U.S. equities outperformed."

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