Titagarh Wagons posted a weak set of earnings in Q3 as one-time provision hurts EBITDA. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Umesh Chowdhary, VC and MD of Titagarh Wagons spoke about the results and his outlook for the company.
A lot of private sector demands for wagons have started coming in, said Umesh Chowdhary, VC & MD of Titagarh Wagons.
Since these orders have been won as competitive tenders, the margins will be reasonable and cannot be runaway margins, said JP Chowdhary of Titagarh Wagons.
Railway related companies are buzzing in trade today after the government approved setting up of Rail Development Authority.
The company currently has an order book of Rs 2,600-2,700 crore of which Indian wagon order stands at a couple of hundred crore.
The defence ministry has announced to award contracts for the development of future infantry combat vehicles. The ordinance factory board will go up against 5 private players in the fight for a 60,000 crore rupee contract.
In a day or two, Ministry of Defence is likely to choose companies for designing and building protoypes for infantry combat vehicles. The order size for the FICV prototypes contract is worth around Rs 60,000, reports CNBC-TV18.
Commenting on the good performance, JP Chowdhary, Executive Chairman, Titagarh Wagons told CNBC-TV18, that revenues improved on account of orders from railways and private sector companies. The company‘s received orders worth Rs 100 crore from Indian Navy for vessels, he said.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Umesh Chowdhary, VC &MD of Titagarh Wagons said that the Railways might not be able to achieve its targets due to low procurement rates.
In May, the company bid for a tender involving 12,000 wagons from Indian Railways, of which the company has received 2,100 wagons worth orders, says Anil Agarwal, CFO of the company.
JP Chowdhary CEO, CIMMCO believes with easing of the policy and changing the terminology from ‘state-of-art‘ to ‘modern technologies‘, is likely to pave way for the already interested investors to come in.
Umesh Chowdhary, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Titagarh Wagons is confident of wagon orders improving on the back of government‘s investment focus on railways.
Sachin Bhanushali, CEO, Gateway Rail Freight says, support from public private partnership (PPP) and external financing has always been underachieved in the past and meeting financial targets is a serious question now.
While Titagarh Wagons has not won any order, VC and MD of the company Umesh Chowdhary says for each locomotive that IR buys, it has to buy hundreds of wagons. "So the fallout of this order will be phenomenal, and hence it is a very positive news for the company," he told CNBC-TV18
The company‘s prototype of Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) has got approved and deliveries have started in Q3, said Umesh Chowdhary, VC & MD, Titagarh Wagons.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Umesh Chowdhary, VC & MD of Titagarh Wagons said that a new government tender is expected in the near-term with provision for 17,000 wagons.
Titagarh Wagons had zero wagon and coach sales in the June quarter as it refused to match the low rates quoted by a competitor, that the Indian Railways expected it to, says the company's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Umesh Chowdhary
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Umesh Chowdhary, VC and MD, Titagarh Wagons says Indian railway wagon business does not benefit the company because of the pricing pressure for railways tenders.
According to Umesh Chowdhary, VC & MD, Titagarh Wagons synergy with its French subsidiary has helped them do away with its dependence of wagon orders from Indian railways alone.
Umesh Chaudhary, Vice Chairman, Titagarh Wagons is happy that the Railway Minister stayed away from making it a populist Budget.
Discussing the results, Umesh Chowdhary, VC & MD, Titagarh Wagons, said the company lost a month of revenue in Q3 as a plant was out of operation. However, he said things are looking positive for both coaches and defence business and even private wagon orders have started pouring in.
The French company is into manufacturing wagons and with this acquisition, Titagarh Wagons is now catering to the demands of various European markets, says vice-chairman Umesh Choudhary.
Umesh Choudhary of Titagarh Wagons thinks that there‘s a little possibility of reducing passenger rail fares, but feels that Railway Minister may introduce variable passenger component.
Umesh Choudhary, Vice Chairman, Titagarh Wagons says there have been news reports on earnings of railways having dropped for the first time. He says it is a vicious cycle, if they do not make new capital investment it would hit their earnings.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Umesh Chowdhary, managing director, Titagarh Wagons says the existing FDI that is allowed in railways does not permit inflows in component manufacturing.