Dilip Buildcon soars 7%, hits 52-week high on heavy volumes

The management said the road ahead for the infrastructure segment looks steady and poised to grow, and the company is well-positioned and perfectly equipped to capitalise on this opportunity.

Shares of Dilip Buildcon (DBL) hit a 52-week high of Rs 404, as they rallied 7 per cent on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes in an otherwise weak market on strong order book position around Rs 24,000 crore at the end of September quarter.

Thus far in the month of November, in 10 trading days, the stock has zoomed 32 per cent after the infrastructure company also posted strong operational performance for the September quarter (Q2FY24). Since April 2023, the market price of DBL has more-than-doubled or zoomed 139 per cent from levels of Rs 169. The average trading volumes at the counter jumped over three-fold today. A combined 5.7 million equity shares of DBL have changed hands on the NSE and BSE till 11:09 AM. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.6 per cent at 64,876.

DBL is India’s foremost infrastructure company, with strong capabilities in roads and bridges, water sanitation, mining, dams, sewage treatment, irrigation projects and construction and development of residential and commercial buildings. The company is present in 19 states and 1 union territory.

In Q2FY24, DBL reported consolidated profit before exceptional items and tax at Rs 291 crore, as against a net loss of Rs 231 crore in a year ago quarter. The developer benefited from steady infrastructure demand in its urban and water supply business.

The Madhya Pradesh-based company, which builds projects including roads, bridges, dams, and commercial and residential properties, said its net order book as of September-end stood at Rs 23,989 crore, compared with Rs 26,338 crore in Q2FY23.

DBL's revenue from operations rose about 10 per cent to Rs 2,849 crore, boosted by its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects and road infrastructure maintenance segment, which accounted for more than 99 per cent of the overall revenue.

In an exchange filing on Friday after market hours DBL said the company completed the construction, including approaches, across the Zuari river on the Panjim-Mangaluru section of NH-17/NH-66 through an EPC contract. The Provisional Completion Certificate has been issued by the authority w.e.f. August 30, 2023, the company said.

Meanwhile, by 2024, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways aims to build 60,000 kms of world-class national highways at a rate of 40 kms each day. And the Government has set a target to construct 14,000 km till FY 2023-24. In a nutshell, the road ahead for the infrastructure segment looks steady and poised to grow, and the company is well-positioned and perfectly equipped to capitalise on this opportunity, the management said.