Sadbhav Infra partners with Piramal Group for road projects

Piramal Group entered into an agreement with Sadbhav Infrastructure Project Ltd. (SIPL) to provide debt financing of Rs. 600 crore for the completion of road projects. The funds will be directed towards extension of facilities as growth capital and disbursement is closely tied to progress of the underlying road projects.

The parent company, Sadbhav Engineering, holds about 69 per cent stake in its subsidiary SIPL. SIPL is an asset holding company and the only listed company in India for Road and infrastructure BOT/hybrid annuity projects. It is responsible for 24 BOT/hybrid annuity projects under its purview. 10 of these are fully operational, one is partially operational and the remaining ones are undergoing various stages of construction. 

Initially, SIPL was engaged in discussions with global infrastructure and private equity firms to meet its fund requirements. However, the talks did not progress further. A leading news source has reported that Italian road operator Atlantia SpA, Cube Highways and Canadian fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) are separately trying to acquire 35-40 per cent stake in SIPL for $350-400 million (Rs. 2,500-2,800 crore).

On the consolidated quarterly financial front, total revenue from operations surged 6.43 per cent to Rs. 848.90 crore in Q2FY19 from Rs. 797.57 crore in Q1FY19. EBITDA rose to Rs. 310.36 crore in Q2FY19 from Rs. 283.54 crore in Q1FY19, registering a climb of 9.45 per cent. The company reported a net loss of Rs. 68.43 crore in Q2FY19 as against a net loss of Rs. 65.63 crore in Q1FY19. 

On the consolidated annual financial front, the company’s total income from operations surged 68.84 per cent to Rs. 2,276.06 crore in FY18 from Rs. 1,348.01 crore in FY17. EBITDA increased to Rs. 1,057.75 crore in FY18 from Rs. 868.88 crore in FY17, registering an increase of 21.73 per cent. The company reported a net loss of Rs. 329.04 crore in FY18 in comparison to Rs. 353.14 crore in FY17.

On Monday, the shares of SIPL opened at a price of Rs. 103.20 per share. At 10:47 am, the stock was trading at Rs. 103.20 per share, down 4.22 per cent.