KNR Constructions is one of the leading companies in the Roads and Highways sector having executed 6,000+ lane km of projects across 12 states in India. The company also has an established presence in Irrigation and Urban Water Infrastructure Management.
KNR delivered strong set of numbers aided by execution pickup
KNR’s share price has grown at 21% CAGR over the past five years (from ~₹ 109 in August 2017 to ~₹ 260 levels in August 2022).
We value KNR at ₹ 310/share.
Besides KNR, we like G R Infraprojects in the EPC space.
| crore | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | 5 yr CAGR (FY17-22) | FY23E | FY24E | 2 yr CAGR (FY22-24E) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Net Sales | 2,137.3 | 2,244.2 | 2,702.6 | 3,272.6 | 0.2 | 3,431.5 | 4,050.3 | 0.1 |
EBITDA | 427.0 | 487.1 | 535.8 | 677.7 | 0.2 | 634.8 | 769.6 | 0.1 |
EBITDA Margin (%) | 20.0 | 21.7 | 19.8 | 20.7 | - | 18.5 | 19.0 | - |
PAT | 263.3 | 225.2 | 244.2 | 381.8 | 0.2 | 381.9 | 473.3 | 0.1 |
EPS (|) | 18.7 | 16.0 | 8.7 | 13.6 | - | 13.6 | 16.8 | - |
P/E (x) | 13.0 | 15.2 | 28.0 | 17.9 | - | 17.9 | 14.4 | - |
EV/EBITDA (x) | 16.5 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 9.6 | - | 10.1 | 8.3 | - |
RoNW (%) | 18.8 | 14.5 | 13.7 | 16.1 | - | 14.6 | 15.4 | - |
RoCE (%) | 19.0 | 19.0 | 23.4 | 25.8 | - | 20.4 | 21.1 | - |
KNR’s order book at the end of Q1 FY23 stood at | 8,585.9 crore, majorly contributed by Roads - HAM (44%), Roads - EPC (30%) and Irrigation (26%) segments. Including L1 position in HAM project worth | 765 crore, its order book position stands healthy at | 9,350.9 crore (2.7x book to TTM revenues). Going forward, the company is targeting minimum order inflows of ~| 3,000 crore during FY23, to be supported by continued traction in roads segment. On the execution front, KNR has reported 20.4% revenue growth in Q1 FY23 (to | 890.6 crore) driven by its healthy order book position and pick-up in execution mainly in HAM projects. Going forward, the company has guided for | 3,500+ crore of revenue during FY23 and targeting 10-15% YoY growth in FY24 (vs | 3,273 crore in FY22) to be aided by elevated level of execution in HAM and EPC projects. However, a) slowed execution pace in irrigation projects due to funding issues at government level and b) early onset of monsoon impacting construction activities to partly impact revenue growth. Further, operating margin has guided to moderate to 16-18% with expected change in project mix and increase in input prices such as Bitumin, Steel, and Cement. In-line with these, we expect company to report 13.4% CAGR during FY22-24E with margin to hover at ~17-18.5%.
KNR largely maintain lean balance sheet structure backed by its prudent strategy to mainly focus on an asset light business model and efficient manage working capital. However, its net debt on standalone basis has increased to | 80 crore at Q1 FY23-end (gross debt:| 124.8 crore; vs net debt free status at FY22-end) on account of higher working capital requirement. Going forward, it has total equity requirement of | 1,098.5 crore (| 522 crore already invested till Q1 FY23; | 305 crore estimated to be spent in FY23, | 160 crore in FY24 and balance in FY25) towards already secured HAM projects. Despite these, we expect its debt to remain at minimal levels with healthy operating cash flow generation arising from improved profitability, and better cash flow management. Further, its net working capital at the end of Q1 FY23 improved to 60 days (vs 63, 82 days at FY22-end, FY21-end respectively). However, dues from the irrigation segment continued to remain at an elevated level (~| 850 crore; including unbilled revenues) as of Q1 FY23-end vs. | 650 at FY22-end due to funding issues for various state government. With these, the company has become cautious towards incremental execution and now focusing higher towards clearance of pending bills which would aid its working capital cycle to improve further.
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