RInfra Q1 net dips 23.91% to Rs 334 crore

The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) today reported 23.91 per cent decline in consolidated net profit for the first quarter ended June 30 at Rs 334 crore.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 439 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Total income for April-June stood at Rs 7,848 crore against Rs 7,538 crore in Q1 FY17, registering a growth 4.11 per cent.
"Overall, it has been a good quarter for the company. Our income from the EPC business has gone down this quarter as compared to last year but we hope this share will keep increasing the coming quarters as we will keep looking at opportunities for participating in projects across the sectors," Chief Executive Lalit Jalan told reporters here.

Currently, the order book of RInfra stands at Rs 5,721 crore and is likely to add another over Rs 1,200 crore worth projects in the near future.
"We have won an EPC contract to build 66 km NHAI road project worth Rs 711 crore in Tamil Nadu. We are the lowest bidder for two packages of the metro projects which will be soon announced," he said.

He said the company is eyeing opportunities worth over Rs 2 lakh crore per annum planned by the government across power, roads, railways including metro rail, ports and mega infrastructure projects.
"We will be bidding for nearly Rs 1-1.5 lakh crore worth of projects and aim to bag nearly 15-20 per cent of those," Jalan said.

Asked about the progress on the company's plans to launch the Rs 2500 crore InvIT, he said, "We have received the approvals from SEBI and we hope to launch it in the July- September quarter itself.
"After the initial poor performance of the first two InvITs, we wanted the sentiment to stabilise and since we are seeing that happening we will be launching it."
The company has planned to list seven road projects initially.
"We have 11 operational road projects. But four of those are yet to meet the condition of commercial operation date plus two years of operation. The InvIT will have the right of first offer for the remaining four projects. By 2019, all the remaining projects will meet this category," he added.

Jalan said the company is also planning to launch an InvIT for its distribution assets.
"We plan to monetise our distribution business and we are looking at two options including launching an InvIT or selling it," he said.
He added that discussions are in advanced stage with PSP Investments of Canada for 49 per cent stake sale in Mumbai power business along with other players as well.
"By the end of this financial year, we hope to get a clarity over this," Jalan noted.