IRB Infra Q3 net down 24 per cent at Rs 109 crore

IRB Infrastructure Developers on Friday reported a 24 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 109 crore for the quarter ended December 2013, on lesser income and increased finance costs.

The company, one of the largest road builders on BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis had clocked a net profit of Rs 142.71 crore for the third quarter of the previous fiscal year (FY13).

Total income from operations declined marginally by 4 per cent to Rs 877.22 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, from Rs 913.85 in the year-ago period.

Total expenses during the quarter declined 10.46 per cent to Rs 554.45 crore from Rs 619.25 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Finance costs during the quarter stood at Rs 204.15 crore over Rs 158.91 crore during the same period a year ago.

The company said that during the quarter, it has received a letter of award from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the project of Four Laning of Solapur to Yedeshi section of  NH-211 in the State of Maharashtra to be executed as BOT (Toll) under NHDP Phase-IV.

"The estimated project cost is approximately Rs 1,500 crore having a concession period of 29 years and construction period of 910 days. The company has sought Rs 189 crore as viability gap funding from NHAI," the statement said.

IRB's order book now stands at about Rs 7,800 crore out of which Rs 5,800 crores worth of order book is to be executed in the next 2 to 3 years, it said.

IRB is one of the largest private developers in India with 19 road BOT Projects out of which 16 projects are under operation.

Shares in IRB Infra, on Friday, ended at Rs 77.10 apiece on the BSE, up 5.04 per cent from the previous close.

"The decline in income is a reflection of fall in our construction revenue which declined from Rs 666.14 crore to Rs 591.17 crore. However, our toll collection revenue improved to Rs 314.73 crore this quarter against Rs 280.43 crore year-ago," IRB Infra chairman and managing director Virendra Mhaiskar told PTI.

He said the construction revenue declined because the company did not receive the appointed date for construction of the Karwar-Kundapur project from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which it expected to come in Q3.

The finance cost for the quarter increased to Rs 204.15 crore from Rs 158.91 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.

"The Jaipur-Deoli and Kolhapur projects became operational during the quarter, so the interest on both these projects is now charged to the P&L account," he said.

On its order book, he said it gives the company good visibility for the next three years. "We hope to bag a
few more projects of around 200-250 km in the future when the NHAI invites tenders," he added.

When asked about the controversy over toll collection in Kolhapur city, he said, "We have given a letter to the Kolhapur Municipal Commissioner to allow us to collect the toll and to provide us security. We are yet to hear from them. We hope we will get a clarity on that soon so that we can start toll collection."

A letter, on behalf of IRB, was sent by Divya Shaha and Associates, a legal firm working for the company, to KMC.

The company has also appealed to the district police to provide security at the toll booths, according to the Bombay High Court direction, to prevent any act that could stall the toll collection process.