Equity Research: CE Info systems Limited

In FY23, opening order book of Rs7bn, which grew 88% year on year (24%), we expect the company to report a 46% revenue CAGR with improving EBITDA margin from FY22 to FY24.

In India, CE Info systems Limited (Map My India) is the top provider of digital mapping services. Its B2B and B2B2C concentration makes it less noticeable than a Google map with a B2C focus. However, we believe that Google's income model, which is based on fees imposed per period (for each vehicle, asset, transaction, use case, and user), is preferable (only advertisement based). There are significant barriers to entry into the map and navigation industry in India due to MMI's evident advantages, which are not simply reproducible. It uses maps significantly more frequently than its competitors do across a wide range of platforms, products, and applications; as a result, 90% of its biggest customers, who account for more than 80% of its income, have remained with it.

Strong Foundation in India: The amount of data being collected has increased significantly with rising digitalisation. Despite being underutilised, more than 80% of this data contains location information. For businesses to more effectively use market and demographic data and make wise decisions, MMI offers comprehensive digital mapping, spatial, and image analytic capabilities. It provides businesses in the automotive, telecom, finance, food and beverage, and payments industries with proprietary digital MaaS, SaaS, and PaaS.

Products uses are constantly expanding: The company's platform offers a wide range of functionalities, with ever-expanding applications, such as mapping, location and navigation, geospatial data analytics, GIS and AI, GPS tracking and IoT-based fleet management, logistics optimization and workforce management, drone-based solutions, developer APIs, an N-CASE solutions suite for automotive & mobility tech (A&M), consumer technology, and enterprise digital transformation (C&E).

MMI is the market leader in B2B and B2B2C for digital maps, location-intelligence technology, and services after pioneering digital mapping in India in 1995. In order to build a strong, sustainable business model, it capitalised on its early-mover advantage, formed a specialised market, built proprietary and integrated technologies, full-stack products, and continuously innovated. MapMyIndia has been gathering data for more than 25 years, initially creating digital replicas of physical maps. Later, sections of the nation were physically inspected. It has developed a database of more than two crore data points over the last 25 years, including telematics, navigation, and 3D data visualisations. It asserts to have mapped over 17.8 million locations (places of interest such as restaurants, shops, malls, ATMs, hotels, police stations, petrol pumps, electric-vehicle charging stations, etc.). More than 6.3 million kilometres of roads, 7,900 cities and towns, and 14,5 million house addresses for 94 cities and almost 640,000 villages were all covered. Daily updates to maps are made using crowd-sourced data, skilled geospatial analysts, and digital map creators. This is accomplished using sophisticated geospatial algorithms, big data analytics, computer vision, AI/ML, and a large collection of input data gathered by 400 field surveyors, cutting-edge sensors, and IoT devices. By creating automated and manual feedback loops, digital maps are further evaluated and improved.

The amount of data collected has greatly increased with growing digitalisation. This data contains location information in excess of 80% of instances. With a wide range of solutions including SaaS (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), MaaS, and advanced digital mapping, geospatial software, and location-based IoT technologies, MMI serves B2B and B2B2C organisations for maps and geospatial products (maps as a service). Digital maps and geospatial data, as well as solutions and platforms for interactive mapping, search, routing, and navigation, are among its offerings. Products and platforms for GIS (geospatial information systems), geographic data analytics, geospatial artificial intelligence, location-based IoT, fleet management, and labour automation.

The company offers a variety of developer APIs and SDKs to consumer-facing apps and IoT devices, as well as providing each of its platforms and products as APIs. The majority of the company's revenue is generated by B2B and B2B2C transactions, for which it offers solutions for location-powered consumer technology and enterprise digital transformation on the one hand, and NCASE (Navigation Connected Vehicle Telematics and Services, Autonomous safety and ADAS, Shared mobility and Electric mobility) automotive and mobility tech on the other.

With 3.1 billion places and addresses, over 40 billion geo-referenced images, videos, and value-added location-based analytic data, its main product, MMI Maps, provides the most in-depth coverage of the entire nation. The company uses cutting-edge technologies to create high-definition, digital maps of the entire planet in three and four dimensions, in addition to traditional two-dimensional maps. It can gather information or conduct surveys, but it can also process it, turn it into a product, and then provide it via a platform.

Product has variety of uses:

Given the size and demographics of India, businesses now depend on mapping and GIS-based systems to run their operations and provide goods and services. This is applicable to both central and state government ministries as well as industries including the automotive, retail, and industrial sectors. 

For pre-project planning and site suitability assessment, remote sensing and image analysis are widely used. For quicker data collecting, ground truthing, and other project work-flows like construction planning and monitoring, GIS-based apps and drone surveys are used. 

The foundation of the "smart" cities programme is GIS technology. From building and maintaining infrastructure for urban mobility, waste management, "smart" street-lighting, safety and security, to sharing data and providing citizen services. The applications for MMI products and solutions are countless. We anticipate that the applicability, relevance, and utility of the company's goods and solutions will increase as technology develops, is adopted more widely, and new technological paradigms come into existence. In order to discover more solutions that its assortment of goods and platforms can solve, it continues to watch changing consumer and customer needs as well as trends and uses in many sectors. It is able to create and deliver high-quality products thanks to its comprehension of the Indian market and its consumers, its capacity to anticipate changing requirements and uses, and its capacity to apply applications of its own digital map data and goods.

Strong Customer Base with high retention ratio:

The business prioritises its customers. As a result, it has been able to create long-lasting relationships and create prospects for upselling and cross-selling. MMI often enters into long-term (3-5 year), mutually renewable contracts that offer ongoing synergies and predictable revenue. About 90% of its largest clients, who account for more than 80% of sales, have been kept. With its superior capacity to provide a considerably wider and flexible range of goods, platforms, APIs, and solutions, MMI has strong horizontal and enabling plays. Compared to its rivals, this offers more applications, integration possibilities, and deployment options with a greater range of clients and business sectors. It uses maps considerably more extensively than its competitors do across a wide range of platforms, products, and 130 applications. For mapping technology, it enjoys great brand recall in both B2B and B2B2C. Apple products use MapMyIndia maps, as do payment gateways like Paytm and PhonePe, as well as e-commerce food-delivery platforms including McDonald's, REBEL Food, Eat Sure, Grofers, and Cars24, according to certain publicly available deployment details. It is also utilised by store locators from businesses like SBI branch locator, Bajaj Finserv, Single Interface, BFL, and Prasar Bharti DtH dealer locator. MapMmyIndia is also used by web applications like Magic Bricks and 99Acres, as well as the customer service app of Airtel, India's leading mobile carrier. As well as the Paras Hospital, CoWIN, or GVK EMRI emergency ambulance dispatching emergency response apps. These goods and services are also used by utilities like Tata Power as well as FMCGs like Patanjali Ayurveda or Asian Paints.

Clear Cut Winning edge:

MapMyIndia has distinct benefits in the Indian business environment that are difficult to replicate and act as significant obstacles to entry into the country's map and navigation market. For a geographical challenge like India, with a high level of complexity and a dynamic and constantly changing geographical expanse, its goods and solutions are tailored locally. 

Due to its experience navigating a particularly difficult market like India, MMI now has a solid foundation and is well-prepared to provide its products and services globally. MMI has a significant advantage over any possible competitors because of the significant investments it has made in technology over the years, including hardware, software, and packages. By utilising its early-mover advantage, establishing a niche market, developing unique and integrated technology, full-stack products, consistently innovating, and constructing a solid sustainable business model, MapMyIndia has developed a strong moat. The regulatory environment, which further consolidates the advantages of domestic operators at the expense of global ones, only serves to enhance this entrance barrier. The current geospatial policy modifies the competitive environment for digital mapping and geospatial scope in India and serves as a barrier to entry. This is because it has an impact on the ability of global mappers to accurately update their products. Competitors of MMI include TomTom, Here Technologies, ESRI, Mapbox, Trimble, and Google Maps.

The new geospatial data policy is a game changer for domestic operators:

Prior to 2021, the geospatial policy strictly regulated mapping, data collection, use, and storage. Because the sector was heavily regulated by the government, it was difficult for private companies to obtain permission from various departments to map and collect data. The New Geospatial Policy allows all Indian entities to freely acquire, collect, prepare, and disseminate geospatial data and maps within India, with no approval required.

The new guidelines open up enormous opportunities for India's geospatial sector. It does, however, prohibit foreign entities from granular-level mapping, with a binding threshold of one metre horizontally and three metres vertically, making accurate HD mapping difficult. Foreign entity ADAS, 3D, and even 2D maps would be less accurate. Foreign entities are also prohibited from producing 3600 street views or conducting terrestrial surveys. The guidelines also prohibit such data from passing through the servers of foreign companies; thus, APIs from Indian operators must be used. 

These regulations have a significant impact on the competitive geospatial landscape because they provide Indian companies with a clear regulatory advantage while restricting foreign entities' operations. Several mapping activities, such as terrestrial mobile mapping surveys, street-view surveys, and Indian territorial water surveys, are restricted to Indian entities, benefiting Indian mapping companies greatly.

Various Acquisitions By Map My India:

Dynamic changes and technological advancements characterise digital mapping. Existing technological solutions become obsolete as a result, necessitating R&D investment as well as wagering on the next phase of futuristic technology. MMI's ability to develop and commercialise innovative, viable, and sustainable solutions on a continuous basis would help drive growth.

• Realview and Metaverse are two concepts. MMI recently launched Mappls Realview, India's first and only 3600 panoramic street view and 3D Metaverse map service. Mappls.com and the Mappls app both have it. Users can explore immersive 3D maps and detailed interactive 3D models of India's iconic landmarks. Mappls' detailed house level 2D maps, combined with MMI's e-Loc feature, offer a full real-world Metaverse experience.
• Gtrophy Systems Pvt. Ltd. is a company based in India. In FY22, Map My India paid Rs135 million for a 76% stake in Gtrophy Systems, an IoT and logistics SaaS provider that offers vehicle tracking, supply-chain analytics, fleet management, and monitoring. Over 200 million vehicles are on the road, with a sizable proportion transporting goods and people. Selling loT products and SaaS to fleet owners, operators, and enterprise customers of over 200 million vehicles expands the opportunity pool. The integration of Gtrophy's products with MMI's solutions complements the company's core automotive OEM business, which focuses on selling its N-Case suite of maps, technologies, and IoT embedded at the factory into the 20 million new vehicles sold each year, as well as their companion apps.
• MMI acquired a 10% stake in Pupilmesh Pvt. Ltd, a geospatial company involved in developing indigenously designed augmented reality wearables such as Navisor (a "smart" helmet kit for navigation), in FY22 for Rs4.9m. This would allow MMI to cater to more opportunities in the navigation field.
•  MMI purchased a 3% stake in Nawagati Tech Pvt. Ltd, a SaaS tech company that specialises in intelligent queue management at gas stations, in Q1 FY23 for Rs10 million. This is a plug-and-play service that allows you to monitor real-time congestion and develop strategies to deal with it.

Financials:

Conclusion:

MMI's business model is to charge their customers fees on a per-period basis based on vehicle, asset, transaction, use case, and user, as applicable. Subscription fees, royalties, and annuities are paid in exchange for licences and usage rights to their proprietary digital MaaS, PaaS, and SaaS offerings. Subscription fees, royalties, and annuity payments contributed more than 90% of revenue in FY22. Because the majority of the company's products, platforms, and solutions are digital, created in-house, and then deployed and delivered via the "cloud," it has a high level of operational leverage. Its EBITDA margin in FY22 was 44%. Based on FY23's opening order book of Rs7bn, which grew 88% year on year (24%), we expect the company to report a 46% revenue CAGR from FY22 to FY24. The average duration of such orders is 3.5 years. The business enters into fixed-price or volume-linked contracts. Order-booking based on volume projections reflects the automotive OEM side of the business, while fixed-pricing reflects C&E and other factors. This expansion would be driven by vehicle launches, which would provide N-CASE suite-and-fleet solutions under A&M, accounting for 54% of revenue, and the rising C&E segment accounting for 49%.

Source:

1. www.mapmyindia.com
2. Map My India Annual Report
3. www.mca.gov.in
4. www.sharescart.com
5. Bloomberg.com
6. Ace Analyser

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