IRB Infra up 6%, nears 52-week high as stock trades ex-split in 1:10 ratio

Shares of IRB Infrastructure rallied 6 per cent to Rs 31.60 on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade after turning ex-date for stock split in the ratio of 1:10. The stock was quoting close to its 52-week high of Rs 32.90, touched on December 14, 2022.

The company had fixed February 22, 2023 as the ‘Record Date’ to determine eligibility of shareholders for sub-division /split of every 1 equity share having face value of Rs 10 each, fully paid-up into 10 equity shares having face value of Re 1 each fully paid-up.

"The rationale behind the stock split is to enhance the liquidity in the capital market, to widen shareholder base and to make the shares more affordable to small investors," the company said.

At 09:53 AM; IRB Infra was up 3 per cent at Rs 30.70, as compared to 0.78 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 24.5 million equity shares changed hands on the NSE and BSE so far.

Meanwhile, in past two trading days, the stock has surged 12 per cent after the company emerged as a preferred bidder for Rs 2,132 crore built-operate-transfer (BOT) project in Gujarat.

The project, with Concession Period of 20 years from the Appointed Date, is a six-lane 90.9 kilometers stretch between Samakhiyali to Santalpur.

Upon award of this project, the company’s order book will stand revised to around Rs 20,892 crore (excluding GST), which includes construction order book of Rs 9,714 crore, which would provide strong visibility for next ~2.5 years.

IRB is India’s first multinational infrastructure player in the highways segment. As the largest integrated private toll roads and highways infrastructure developer in India, this win would expand IRB group’s asset base to over Rs 62,000 crore spread in 10 states across the parent company and two InvITs.

As of December, 2022, the order book (OB) stood at Rs 19,120 crore (~3.2x of FY23E revenue). The consolidated gross debt reduced to Rs 12,670 crore vs. INR 12,710 crore, as of September 2022, analysts at HDFC Securities said.

IRB guided for order inflow (OI) of Rs 6,000-8,000 crore for Q4FY23 and a construction revenue of Rs 4,500 crore for FY23. It received the appointed date from UPEIDA for the Ganga Expressway project and accordingly, the construction activity on the project has commenced, the brokerage firm said.