Rail Vikas Nigam shares up 3% on securing new order; surges 140% in 6 months

Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL), the infrastructure arm of Indian Railways, climbed over 3% in early trade on Friday, in an otherwise volatile broader market, after the company announced that it has bagged a contract worth ₹166.26 crore from Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC). The joint venture between RVNL-ISC Projects has received a letter of award (LoA) for the design, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of ballastless track for Surat Metro Rail Project, Phase-1, it said in an exchange filing.

“Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) - ISC Projects Private Limited JV” has received LOA on January 4 for “design, supply , installation, testing and commissioning of ballastless track from Sarthana to Dream city in elevated and underground sections including connecting lines to depot along with ballasted/ballastless/ embedded standard gauge track for corridor-1, Surat Metro Rail Project, Phase-1,” RVNL said in a post market hour release on Thursday.

The project has to be executed within 22 months, the Mini-Ratna company said.

Boosted by the new order, the Rail Vikas Nigam share price gained as much as 3.1% to hit a high of ₹74.25, after opening higher at ₹73.70 on the BSE. On Thursday, the stock closed 1.84% lower at ₹72.05.

In the last one year, RVNL shares have delivered 107% return to its shareholders, while they zoomed 140% in the past six months. However, the stock seemed to have lost momentum in the recent past, with the share price falling 1.5% in a month. The stock has retreated 12% from its 52-week high of ₹84.15 touched on November 29, 2022. However, the stock has zoomed 155% against its 52-week low of ₹29 on February 24, 2022. The current market capitalisation of the railway stock stood at ₹15,168.5 crore.

Last month, the state-owned company had secured a letter of award for the appointment as project implementation agency for the UTF harbour project in Maldives. This is a strategic project of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and will cost ₹1,544.60 crore.

Besides, it also received a contract worth ₹198 crore for construction of Bhesan Depot and workshop from Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC). The project, which has to be executed within 20 months, covers construction of Bhesan Depot and workshop including DDC, BCC and associated electrical and mechanical (E&M) works under corridor - C2, Bhesan to Saroli, for Surat Metro Rail Project Phase-1, DC 2.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) was incorporated as Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) on January 24, 2003, with the vision of the then Prime Minister, Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to bridge the infrastructure deficit on Indian Railways. The company was granted Miniratna status in September 2013 and has also been recommended for Navaratna status by MoR. The company made its stock market debut in April 2019 after disinvestment of 12.16% stake of the government of India through initial public offering (IPO). It works on a turnkey basis and undertakes the full cycle of project development from conceptualisation to commissioning including stages of design, preparation of estimates, calling and award of contracts, project and contract management, etc.

For the second quarter ended September 30, 2022, RVNL’s consolidated net profit jumped 36.5% to ₹381.22 crore, while net sales grew 21.9% to ₹4,908.90 crore as compared to the same period last year.