IFGL Refractories hits 52-week high on rating upgrade, leaps 53% in a month

Rating agency ICRA has upgraded credit rating assigned to Rs 173 crore LOC of the company with a stable outlook

Shares of IFGL Refractories surged 9 per cent in intraday trade on the BSE on Wednesday to hit a 52-week high of Rs 267 after the company said rating agency ICRA has upgraded credit rating assigned to the company's Rs 173 crore line of credit with a stable outlook. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 374 in January 2018.

"Based on a review of the latest developments, the rating committee of ICRA, after due consideration, has upgraded the long-term rating to (ICRA) AA- from (ICRA) A+ assigned to the Rs 173 crore line of credit (LOC) of the company. The outlook on the long-term rating is 'Stable'. The short-term rating for the captioned LOC has been reaffirmed at 1 ICRA AI+,” ICRA said.

Meanwhile, in the past one month, the stock of IFGL Refractories has outperformed the market by surging 53 per cent, as compared to an 8 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

For the July-September quarter (Q2FY21), the company had reported a strong 65 per cent year on year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 20.60 crore on the back of 9 per cent YoY growth in revenue at Rs 248 crore. EBITDA margins improved by 510 basis points to 16.6 per cent from 11.5 per cent.

Strong demand recovery in all the markets, improved realizations and cost optimization efforts have led to strong growth in revenue & profitability.

“The government’s production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for 10 sectors especially in speciality steel will attract fresh investment and state of the art technology that would make India self-reliant in producing value-added speciality steel products. The PLI scheme for automobiles and auto components will generate sustained demand for steel in the long term from domestic manufacturers,” IFGL Refractories said in an investor presentation.

At 10:16 am, the stock was trading 4 per cent higher at Rs 256 on the BSE, against a 0.10 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined around 42,000 equity shares changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE.