IRB Infra block deal: Stock sinks 13% after over 300 mn shares change hands

IRB Infra stock news: Reports suggest IRB Holding Pvt Ltd, and Deepali Virendra Mhaiskar could be likely sellers

IRB Infrastructure block deal: IRB Infrastructure Developers share price sank 13 per cent to Rs 63.3 apiece on the BSE in Thursday's intraday trade after over 300 million shares changed hands on the counter in a block deal.

At 9:15 AM, 257.7 million shares changed hands in the BSE, and about 58 million shares changed hands on the NSE, at Rs 65.1 apiece. The block deal was worth over Rs 2,000 crore.

Till 9:27 AM, a total of 445.2 million shares had changed hands on both the exchanges. By comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.23 per cent.

While Business Standard could not ascertain the buyers and sellers in the deal, reports suggested IRB Holding Pvt Ltd, and Deepali Virendra Mhaiskar could be the likely sellers.

As per reports, the duo was looking to sell up to 4 per cent of the company's equity capital at a price band of Rs 63-72.70 per share.

At the end of the March quarter, Promoter Deepali Virendra Mhaiskar held 0.27 per cent stake in the company. Promoter group IRB Holding Pvt Ltd, meanwhile, held a 33.2 per cent stake in the company.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited (IRB) is one of the leading infrastructure development companies in India in the road and highway sector with presence in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) space.

The company undertakes development of various infrastructure projects in the road sector through several Special Purpose Vehicles. IRB's work spans from building of roads, highways bridges and tunnels. The company has also diversified its business into the real estate development sector.

As the largest integrated private toll roads and highways infrastructure developer in India, IRB Infra has an asset base of approximately Rs 80,000 crore in 12 states across the parent company and two Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).

In the January to March quarter, IRB Infrastructure Developers reported a 45 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) jump in net profit to Rs 188.9 crore. Sequentially, IRB Infra’s net profit remained flat.

The highway builder reported a year-on-year core revenue growth of 27 per cent to Rs 2,061 crore. Sequentially, net sales increased by 4.7 per cent.

IRB Infra's order book stood at Rs 34,800 crore as on March 2024, with EPC contributing 16.3 per cent (Rs 5,700 crore) and O&M contributing 83.7 per cent (Rs 29,100 crore).

The management expects total projects worth Rs 2 trillion to be bid out over the next two years on a BOT basis.

"We have recalibrated our EPS estimates higher to factor in better growth and resultant improvement in margins owing to the mix. Given the improving outlook on ordering, better-than expected toll growth and likely interest rate cuts, we maintain 'Add' rating on the stock," said analysts at HDFC Securities.