IRB Infra Q3 profit may jump 21.3% to Rs 132 cr: Poll

IRB Infrastructure's third quarter profit after tax is seen going up 21.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 132 crore, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Net sales are likely to increase 12.9 percent to Rs 990 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 877 crore in same quarter last year. Operating profit may climb 27.5 percent to Rs 554 crore and margin may expand 640 basis points to 56 percent during the same period.

Expectations-Topline growth may be driven by traffic growth, tariff hike and pick-up in EPC execution-Revenue growth may be aided by 42 percent Y-o-Y growth in its toll revenues (45 percent of sales) while its construction revenues (55 percent of sales) may decline by 5 percent Y-o-Y-Construction revenue may decline due to near completion of Ahmedabad-Vadodara despite pick up in execution on Goa Kundapur and Solapur-Yedishi-Margin expansion due to impact of tariff hikes may offset impact of higher interest cost on profits (this margin expansion can be capped if the revival in construction segment is more than expected)

Growth in toll revenues may be on the back of:-Continued impact of 18 percent tariff hike in Mumbai Pune Expressway (30 percent of toll revenues) in Q1 and 5.5 percent in Bharuch Surat during Q2 and 6 percent in Surat Dhaisar during Q3-Impact of premium restructuring in Ahmedabad-Vadodara and Tumkur Chitradurg-Provisional tolling in Amristar-Pathankhot from December 1, 2014-Stabilization of traffic at new projects

On Traffic Growth-Additionally, analysts estimate 5-6 percent traffic growth across key projects-Most of IRB's projects have shown robust traffic growth in last 2 quarters, so sustainability will be keenly watched.