HBL Power hits new high on healthy outlook; zooms 155% in three months

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved seven multi-tracking projects at an estimated cost of Rs 32,500 crore, under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

Shares of HBL Power Systems (HBL) hit a new high of Rs 263.55, as they rallied 7 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade in an otherwise subdued market on healthy outlook. The stock of auto components & equipments company has zoomed 155 per cent in past three months on strong earnings. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.30 per cent at 65,346 at 09:45 AM.

The principal activities of the company comprises of manufacturing of different types of Batteries including Lead Acid, NiCad, Silver Zinc, Lithium and Railway and Defence Electronics, Solar Photovoltaic Modules and other products.

In a major boost for railway infrastructure, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved seven multi-tracking projects at an estimated cost of Rs 32,500 crore on Wednesday, under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. The union cabinet also approved ‘PM-eBus Sewa’ project for providing 10,000 e-bus across cities. The total cost of the scheme has been pegged at Rs 57,613 crore, out of which Rs 20,000 crore will be provided by the Centre.

Meanwhile, in the electronics vertical, the company’s Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) continued to gain traction. The government plan to deploy Kavach over 34,368 km of track, covering high density and highly utilised routes, targeting the completion of this ambitious plan by 2026.

The other major opportunity for Kavach (TCAS) is Vande Bharat Trains (Train 18), another flagship project of the Indian Railways. The Railways has decided to equip all new Vande Bharat Trains being produced with TCAS on board in the railway factory itself.

In June 2023, HBL entered into a contract with Ashoka Buildcon (ABL) for supply of the Kavach part of an EPC contract won by ABL in September 2022. The ABL contract with HBL is for Rs 135 crore. This includes the supply and commissioning of all equipment involved in the Kavach system requiring RDSO approval, HBL had said.

For April-June quarter (Q1FY24), HBL Power had reported robust earnings, with its consolidated profit after tax more than doubled to Rs 51.51 crore from Rs 19.98 crore in Q1FY23. Revenue from operations jumped 46 per cent to Rs 467 crore from Rs 320 crore in a year ago quarter.

The Battery vertical is one of the major revenues spinners for the company followed by Electronics segment. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of Ni-Cad batteries which has diverse industrial applications. HBL has also started focussing on electronic and engineering products for the defence and railways.