GTPL Hathway zooms 19% on heavy volumes; stock hits record high

Shares of GTPL Highway hit a record high of Rs 305 as it rallied 19 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes. At 11:10 am, the stock was trading 17 per cent higher at Rs 299.95, as compared to a 0.61 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter jumped 9-fold with a combined 2.66 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE. In the past one week, it has gained 35 per cent as against a 2 per cent fall in the benchmark index.

GTPL Hathway is engaged in distribution of television channels through digital cable distribution network. The company is also appointed as project implementation agency for Package B of Bharat Net Phase-II project in which the company has to implement end-to-end optic fibre cable and digital infrastructure. The company achieved “net debt free” status during the financial year 2020-21 (FY21).

The work order of Rs 1,246 crore for implementation of Bharat Net Phase II project in Gujarat (Package B, Saurashtra), by Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Limited (GFGNL) under Digital India Initiative, which was bagged by GTPL in FY19, has been nearly completed (97 per cent completed as of March 31, 2021) and the Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of the project has begun. Under this project, the Company has already connected 3,667 GPs (Gram Panchayats) by implementing end-to-end Optic Fibre Cable and connecting the digital infrastructure at Centralized network operations centre at Gandhinagar.

GTPL’s resilient operating performance has been a result of solid traction in broadband segment. Analysts remain constructive on the company given the superior financial metric with stronghold in Gujarat provides growth opportunities.

During April-June quarter (Q1FY22), GTPL had added 55,000 new broadband subscribers. Total subscribers as on Q1FY22 were 690,000 of which 250,000 are FTTX subscribers. The broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) for Q1FY22 stood at Rs 440; up 4 per cent year on year (y-o-y).

The highlight of the quarter was robust subscriber additions & subscription revenues for Broadband business, strong profitability and debt repayment. GTPL will continue to march forward on its stated strategic roadmap by coming up with interesting new products and services, enhancing customer experience, strengthening its digital infrastructure capabilities, and accelerating its footprint in the existing & new markets, GTPL’s management said while announcing Q1 results on July 19, 2021.

In the past six months, the stock has zoomed 142 per cent, as against a 17 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.