NEWS ANALYSIS
RAJESH DESAI
METALS & MINING
Rlys’ private freight terminals biz draws Tata Steel, 21 others
· Indian Railways’ private freight terminals (PFTs) appear to be catching up slowly. A host of companies, including Tata Steel, Kribhco Rail Infrastructure, Concor, Sahani Logistics, India Glycols-backed Kashipur Infra Freight Terminals, Central Warehouse Corporation, and Rajasthan Spinning Mills are queuing to be operators.
· The Ministry now has close to 35 proposals for PFTs from 22 companies. Of this, the Railways has notified eight terminals, approved 15 and the remaining are under consideration. Setting up a PFT will require Rs 100-150 crore. The gene-pool of companies is varied — logistics players, container train operators, mining companies such as Goa-based Fomento Group, and commodity trading firms such as Navkar Group.
· WHY PFT? : A PFT operator can handle various types of goods for the Railways and provide value-added services such as storage and distribution. This is different from private rail sidings where Railways permitted specific type of cargo to be handled, usually on a captive use basis for use by the company that built the siding.
Coal, cement drive Railways freight loading higher in Oct
· The Railways moved 565.37 million tonne (mt) of cargo in October, registering an 8.03 per cent growth against the same period last year. While the exact commodity break-up is not yet available, Railways sources said the growth was supported by coal and cement. The key commodities that the Railways moves are coal (which accounts for about 40 per cent), iron and steel, cement, foodgrains, petroleum products, and containers.
· An official statement said during October, the revenue earning freight traffic carried by Indian Railways was 83.92 mt. There is an increase of 6.24 mt over the actual freight traffic of 77.68 mt carried by the Indian Railways during the same period last year, showing an increase of 8.03 per cent. In April-October, Indian Railways carried 565.37 mt freight. This shows an increase of 28.45 mt over the freight traffic of 536.92 mt carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 5.3 per cent.
INFRASTRUCTURE
DLF to issue fresh equity shares to reduce promoters’ stake
· Realty major DLF today said it will issue fresh equity shares in the next fiscal to dilute promoters’ stake to 75 per cent as per market regulator SEBI’s guidelines and will use the funds to cut debt.
· In the medium term, (this will) further pare down the net debt to below Rs 15,000 crore with operational cash flow surpluses and equity issuance to bring the free float to 25 per cent (in compliance to current regulations) during FY14.
· As on September 30, promoters and their group companies held 78.58 per cent stake in the company. As per the SEBI guidelines, private companies should have a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent by June 2013.
McNally Bharat Eng gets BRGF order worth Rs 91cr
· McNally Bharat Engineering Company has bagged contracts worth Rs 90.88 crore in West Bengal under Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF). The company has received two orders for construction of educational infrastructure facility under BRGF in the districts of Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur for a total value of Rs 90.88 crore.
Regards,
Team Microsec Research
Microsec Capital Limited
Tel: 91 33 30512100
Fax: 91 33 30512020
CA. Rajesh Desai
RAJESH DESAI
INFRASTRUCTURE
GMR Infra takes Rs 1,450-cr hit on Air India, TN dues
· GMR Infrastructure, whose net loss shot up threefold to Rs 180 crore in the second quarter (July-September), said it had pending receivables of Rs 2,000 crore. Of this, the bulk was from just two entities — Air India and Tamil Nadu government — which owed the firm Rs 1,450 crore.
· Air India owes GMR Rs 650 crore, including airports at Delhi and Hyderabad, while Tamil Nadu owes us Rs 800 crore. The total outstanding for company’s airport sector is Rs 890 crore, while the power sector has an outstanding of Rs 880 crore.
· While the company posted an 18 per cent growth in revenues at Rs 2,399 crore, the fact that it is sitting on idle assets in the power sector due to non-availability of gas in the east-coast is taking a huge toll on the firm’s profitability.
Navabharat-Essar Power deal under scrutiny
· Navabharat Power, whose stake sale to Essar Power has snowballed into a controversy post the surfacing of coal block allocation row, is now facing scrutiny by the Odisha law department.
· The law department is vetting the deal to check if the deal was in the ambit of law even as Essar Power has filed a fresh application to take possession of land for the power project earlier proposed by Navabharat. The promoters of Navabharat Power had sold 100 percent share of the company to Essar Power in two tranches soon after being allocated coal blocks. The matter is now being investigated by CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). Navabharat Power reportedly made a profit of Rs 200 crore in the deal. The state government has also started vetting of the MoU (memorandum of understanding) signed with Navabharat Power after questions were raised regarding the sanctity of the pact signed with the power producer.
Regards,
Team Microsec Research
Microsec Capital Limited
Tel: 91 33 30512100
Fax: 91 33 30512020
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CA. Rajesh Desai