KEC International Highlights Manpower Shortage As Biggest Challenge Despite Strong Order Book

KEC International Ltd. is grappling with a significant manpower shortage even as its order book and margins show signs of strength, said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of KEC International Vimal Kejriwal. The company is currently short of nearly 5,000 workers across its civil and transmission & distribution verticals—a challenge the management identifies as its biggest headwind.

Despite the constraint, the T&D segment is gaining traction, both in terms of order book share and revenue contribution. Kejriwal noted that the closure of major legacy orders from the Covid era has also helped improve margins.

With a robust tender pipeline, the company is becoming increasingly selective in the orders it takes, he told NDTV Profit. For fiscal, it is targeting an order intake of around Rs 30,000 crore.

Meanwhile, payments for an order book worth Rs 2,000 crore have been slightly delayed, the CEO said.

KEC International's share price on Tuesday jumped more than 7% on Tuesday following the announcement of its fourth quarter results. The company reported a consolidated revenue increase of 11.5% year-on-year, reaching Rs 6,872 crore compared to Rs 6,165 crore.

Ebitda saw a rise of 38.9%, amounting to Rs 538.8 crore versus Rs 388 crore, with the Ebitda margin improving to 7.8% from 6.3%.

Net profit also saw a boost, as it grew 76.8% to Rs 268.2 crore from Rs 151.7 crore.

KEC International Q4 Highlights (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 11.5% to Rs 6,872 crore versus Rs 6,165 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 7,078 crore).

• Ebitda up 39% to Rs 539 crore versus Rs 388 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 554.5 crore).

• Margin expands to 7.8% versus 6.3% (Bloomberg estimate: 8.1%).

• Net profit up 77% to Rs 268 crore versus Rs 152 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 261 crore).