KEC International Shares Jump 4% After Securing Rs 1,003 Crore in New Orders

KEC International share price rose 4% to ₹975 in the morning session on September 23 with the declaration of the winning of new orders to the tune of ₹1,003 crore across various business verticals-the railways business, civil works, and cables.

At 11:00 am IST on Monday 23rd September, the stock on NSE was trading at ₹949.50, up 0.87% from the previous close. KEC International's shares have increased by 60% since the beginning of the year. 

In the railways division, KEC International bagged a contract for a tunnel ventilation system along with associated works inside India. The company also secured an order in the industrial sector for civil and mechanical work at a steel plant.

It has received orders for various cable types, both within the country and outside the country, in the cable division. Interestingly, about 70% of order intake this year comes from its T&D business.

“Our railways business has further fortified its position in the fast-growing tunnel ventilation market, and our civil division has grown with the accession of a new client in the metals and mining industry,” said Vimal Kejriwal, managing director and CEO.

KEC International, part of RPG group, has won orders worth over ₹12,300 crore in the first half of this financial year. These make up for nearly 70% of the total ₹18,102 crore worth of orders that the company bagged for FY24.

This follows an announcement by CARE Ratings, India's leading credit agency, downgrading KEC's long and short-term bank facilities. It attributed this to slower than expected recovery in gross current assets during FY24 and the first quarter of FY25, resulting in continued dependence on working capital borrowings, comprising short term debt and a highly leveraged capital structure.

Kejriwal in an interview with CNBC-TV18 last week restated the company's order target of new orders in a year and said it is expected to be ₹25,000 crore this year, which would be half of those orders. He also stated that KEC International had emerged as 'L1' in all bids worth more than ₹7,000 crores.

On 5 September, KEC International bagged orders worth ₹1,423 crore for design, supply, and installation of 380 kV transmission lines in Saudi Arabia. The company has also become one of the key contenders for taking away the promoter stake in ITD Cementation. However, CNBC-TV18 reported on Friday that Adani Group has now entered the fray as well for the same stake, which dented the stock's performance.

KEC has maintained complete silence on this latest development. The company has just sanctioned a ₹6,000 crore fund raising plan. This includes ₹4,500 crore through QIP and the balance through NCDs.

KEC International Ltd is a part of the RPG Enterprises group of companies and offers infrastructure engineering, procurement, and construction services. The company experience includes EPC solutions, project management, and tower testing. It is also engaged with civil construction projects, such as residential complexes building, auto factories, cement plants, and warehouses.

KEC manufactures lattice towers, power, and telecom cables and has production facilities in India, Brazil, UAE and Mexico. In the themes of infrastructure solutions, the company provides them with Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas. It has its corporate office in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.