Infrastructure major HCC will repay Rs 200 crore debt and explore sale of its build-operate-transfer road projects this year.
HCC, which underwent debt restructuring in 2012, pared its debt by Rs 300 crore after raising Rs 400 crore in a qualified institutional placement offering in April. The company has a total debt of about Rs 4,700 crore.
The company's reported 12.5% growth in its operating profit, which came at Rs 192 crore in Q4 2015. Margins too improved but its standalone net profit for the quarter fell 15% to Rs 20.6 crore due to higher finance costs and lower other income.
“We have an order book of Rs 14,500 crore and we are lowest bidder in projects valuing Rs 3,500 crore. We will continue to focus on EPC projects, which is our core business,” said HCC's group chief financial officer Praveen Sood.
The company has exited from two of its build-operate-transfer road projects over the last few months. It is involved in four similar BOT projects – two of which are in operation and two under construction. Sood said the company intends to exit these projects as well.
“This is a trying period for Indian infrastructure sector, as the government has a huge task at hand to clear stalled projects and removing bottlenecks, which will take some time. In such a backdrop, our focus will remain on improving the operational efficiency and recovery of our claims. HCC will continue to focus on exiting non-core businesses and operating assets along with realising claims to further improve all our financial parameters in the coming year,” HCC chairman Ajit Gulabchand said in a statement.
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