Pratibha Industries eyes 25% growth in order book this fiscal

Despite the current slowdown in the infrastructure space, Pratibha Industries is bullish on its growth prospects and is eyeing a 25% year-on-year growth in its order book. "There is a wide scope of growth in the infrastructure and construction sector given the state of development in the pipeline. It is a natural growth story for us and we are well placed to capitalise on the infrastructure boom that's on the way," company's group director Yogen Lal told PTI here.

He said the company will continue to maintain a 25% year-on-year growth in its order book. The government has set a target of investing a staggering USD 1 trillion in key infra areas like roads, highways, ports and airports over the next five years beginning next fiscal.

Currently, the city-based company's order book stands at Rs 5,335 crore of which 55% is contributed by its water management vertical, 32% by buildings and 13% by the urban infrastructure segment.

"There was some slowdown in the road sector in the recent past. But we feel the infrastructure sector will be a huge opportunity with significant investment. We see significant growth opportunities in all the three verticals over the period," he said.

Apart from these three verticals, the company is also bidding for projects in the oil and gas sector. "We want to get into newer verticals and newer geographies. We want to make a foray into the oil and gas segment as we see a huge growth opportunity there. We have put in a few bids in this sector as we have a strong mechanical division," Lal said.

Pratibha Industries is also looking at both onshore and offshore opportunities. "In onshore we are looking at states like Gujarat and Rajasthan." Asked if the company has earmarked a capex for the fiscal, Lal said, "this year we have earmarked Rs100-120 crore that we plan to use for the Rs467 crore contract we have bagged from the Delhi Metro. The remaining will be used for other projects," he said. The company has planned a similar capex (Rs100-120 crore) each for the next two years, he said.

Pratibha expects to maintain a 20-25% growth in its revenue over the next two years. "We expect our revenue to grow at 20-25% corresponding to our order book," he said, adding the revenue recognition and margin recognition for the Delhi Jal Board project was likely to be visible sometime next financial year.

The company is also scouting for engineering, procurement and construction contracts in the Middle East and Saarc nations, he said. "We are bidding for projects in Abu Dhabi. We have bid for projects in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. We are looking at opportunities in Nepal and Sri Lanka as well. These projects will be mainly in our water management vertical," he said, adding, "we are focusing on the Middle East and Saarc countries for expansion."