IRB InvIT Fund reports 44% decline in net profit at Rs 24 crore

IRB InvIT Fund on Thursday reported a 44.14 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 23.91 crore for the quarter ended June on the back of lower toll collections due to coronavirus-induced lockdown.

The InvIT had reported a net profit of Rs 42.81 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Its gross income declined to Rs 198.48 crore in Q1 FY2021 as against Rs 322.85 crore a year ago, impacted largely due to lower income from operations.

As a result, the board has declared a distribution of Rs 87 crore to the unit holders for the quarter as against Rs 174 crore declared in Q1 FY2020.

The Rs 87 crore distribution translatesinto payout of Rs 1.50 per unit for Q1 FY2021.

We had only 72 days operations in the first quarter of FY21 and that too under strict lockdown restrictions mandated by the government authorities, in view of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic environment across the nation," Vinod Kumar Menon, Executive Director and CEO, Investment Manager, said.

With the relaxations announced by the government, the operations have started picking pace and normalcy is in sight, he added.

"Toll collections for our portfolio have reached 83 per cent on year-on-year basis in June 2020 and continue to improve further," Menon added.

IRB InvIT Fund is the trust settled by its sponsor, IRB Infrastructure Developers and is registered under the Sebi (Infrastructure Investment Trust) Regulations, 2014.

The trust, set up to own, operate and maintain portfolio of toll road concessions, is managing seven operational road assets across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.