According to Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO, KEC International, the company has delivered steady performance, despite global upheavals, during the first quarter of FY21.
RPG Group company KEC International announced its financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2020, recently. Commenting on the performance, Kejriwal noted, ““We are pleased to have delivered a steady performance amidst global upheavals. Our performance for the quarter reflects our concerted efforts toward accelerated ramp up in execution, optimization of costs and focus on cash flows. We have started deploying various mechanization and digitalization initiatives across projects to improve productivity and quality of execution with reduced manpower strength.”
The MD & CEO expressed confidence in delivering a good performance in FY21. Attributing the same to two factors, Kejriwal said, “With operations nearing pre-COVID levels and an order book plus L1 pipeline of over Rs.24,500 crore, we are confident of delivering a good performance in FY21.”
Order Book Position
According to a presentation by KEC International on the company’s performance in Q1FY21, the year-to-date (YTD) order intake stood at Rs.1,931 crore, as of June 30, 2020. This was 73 per cent higher than the comparable level of FY20.
The Rs.1,931-crore of order intake was primarily in the power T&D space (share: 75 per cent, including orders won by the company’s international subsidiary SAE Towers). Around 13 per cent of the orders related to civil works while the remaining 12 per cent were for cables and cabling projects.
The company’s Civil business, during Q1FY21, won orders worth Rs.176 crore for residential and industrial projects. Significantly, the industrial order related to civil works for a flue-gas desulphurization (FGD) project, marking the company’s entry in this emerging area. “We are particularly enthused by the first order in the Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) segment which opens up a large opportunity for us in this area,” was how Kejriwal had then responded to the development.
As of June 30, 2020, the company’s outstanding order book position was Rs.19,682 crore, excluding L1 positions. (Including the same, the figure is Rs.24,500 crore as discussed above.)
| Order Book Position: As of June 30, 2020 | |
| Vertical | % share |
| Power T&D* | 55 |
| Civil | 14 |
| Cables | 2 |
| Railways | 28 |
| Others (includes solar, smart infrastructure, etc) | 1 |
| Total (Rs.19,682 crore) | 100 |
| *Includes 4% share of SAE Towers | |
It is interesting to note that Railways has become an important line of activity for KEC International with such orders accounting for a significant 28 per cent of the company’s outstanding order book, as of June 30, 2020. By the same comparison, civil work projects, another upcoming area, had a respectable share of 14 per cent. The power T&D segment accounted for 55 per cent of the order book, including 4 per cent share of SAE Towers.
Featured photo collage sourced from KEC International
