Investment Acorns

The India premium

The role of governance and other factors in driving equity market multiples

The India premium

India has historically traded at premium multiples compared to other emerging markets (EMs). On price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple, currently, it is trading at about 83 per cent premium based on consensus estimates. India certainly has been, and is projected to be, amongst the fastest-growing EMs (20-year real GDP growth of 6.5 per cent). However, GDP growth or even earnings growth, in and of itself, does not warrant a premium multiple or deliver higher returns. For instance, China has grown faster (20-year real GDP growth of 8.2 per cent) for a long time and yet has consistently traded at a discount. Further, its equity market has underperformed that of India over long periods measured in decades.