IRB Infra dips 14% after NHAI explores new developer for Mumbai-Pune e-way

Shares of IRB Infrastructure skid 14 per cent on the BSE, to hit an over 5-year low of Rs 90 apiece, dragged by heavy selling pressure. The heavy sale volume was witnessed after a news report said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was planning to find a new operator for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway afer the company’s agreement ends in August.

The scrip was trading at its lowest level since March 3, 2014. The trading volumes on the counter nearly tripled with a combined 10.83 million shares, representing 3 per cent of total equity of the company, changing hands on the NSE and BSE till 09:58 am.

SBI Capital Markets has been mandated to find a buyer for the asset and feelers have been sent to global and domestic infrastructure developers such as Macquarie, Cube Highways and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), an Economic Times report said. All the developers have significant exposure in the toll roads segment.

In August 2004, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Mhaiskar Infrastructure (MIPL) - an SPV of IRB Infrastructure Developers signed a 15-year concession agreement to develop, operate and maintain the Mumbai-Pune section of NH-4, along with the operation and maintenance of the Expressway project. For IRB, during the fourth quarter of 2018-19, the Expressway project earned 42 per cent of the total toll collection.

Since May 27, the stock has underperformed the market by falling 34 per cent after the company posted 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in the net profit at Rs 208 crore in March quarter. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin declined sharply by 865 basis points (bps) YoY to 39 per cent due to lower margin in the construction division. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex lost 1 per cent during the same period.