Shares of KEC International added about 2 percent in the early hours of trade on September 21 after the company said it secured orders worth Rs 1,123 crore across its various businesses.
The stock was trading at Rs 432 a share around 11am on Wednesday.
In the Transmission & Distribution (T&D) business, the company secured orders for building substations in India. It includes 400 kV Digital GIS Substation order in India, from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and 400 kV GIS Substation order in India, from a reputed industrial developer.
“We are pleased with the new order wins, especially the consistent order inflows in Domestic T&D business. These orders along with the orders announced earlier during the year, have significantly enhanced our order book in T&D and diversified our clientele,” said Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO, KEC International.
KEC’s railways business secured an order for construction of bridges and associated works for railway lines in the conventional segment in India. Its civil business bagged an order for infra works in the hydrocarbon segment.
“We are particularly enthused by the order in railways, which further consolidates our leadership in the conventional railway segment. The order in civil has strengthened our presence in the growing hydrocarbon segment,” said Kejriwal.
The company’s cables business has also secured orders for various types of cables in India and overseas.
With these orders, KEC International’s year-to-date order intake has surpassed Rs 7,000 crore, a growth of 25 percent over the last year, the management said.
Axis Direct in a recent report said the company has a robust order book plus an L1 position, giving healthy revenue visibility for the next two years. Moreover, it stands well-diversified between T&D and NonT&D segments and has a proven execution capability.
“India's infrastructure market is expected to remain bullish driven by various flagship schemes of the government, increased traction in domestic T&D, Railway and Civil businesses and the revival of private capex,” it said.
However, owing to elevated commodity prices and prevailing challenges in international operations, it awaits their normalisation, and hence, has a ‘hold’ rating on the stock with target at Rs 440.
HDFC Securities said it pegs debt of the company as a cause for concern. The consolidated net debt, including acceptances (Rs 2150 crore), came at Rs 4770 crore, as of March 2022 versus Rs 4850 crore, as of December 2021. As of June 2022, consolidated net debt, including acceptances (Rs 2,670 crore), stood at Rs 6,080 crore. HDFC Securities has a ‘reduce’ rating with target at Rs 375.
Not everyone is bearish on the stock though. ICICI Securities has a ‘buy’ rating with target at Rs 566 as it sees string order book working in favour of the company.
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