Grow Mudra's Inside Edge: GMR shines in second innings, Street turns unkind to Mankind, fledgling carrier readies engines for D-Street flight- Grow Mudra

Grow Mudra's Inside Edge: GMR shines in second innings, Street turns unkind to Mankind, fledgling carrier readies engines for D-Street flight

03 Jun , 2024 By : Debdeep Gupta

Second innings

This diarist hears that fallen angel GMR Infra is slowly gaining favor with fund managers and big-ticket traders. The White Knight’s entry last year and the recent buy recommendation by a leading foreign brokerage are slowly turning the tide in favor of the airport operator. The improvement in revenues has been gradual, but losses are narrowing. Valuation has doubled over the last six months and market chatter is that this will work to the advantage of any other airport operator planning to launch an initial public offering shortly.

The unkindest cut

Mankind shares were on a roll…till the company approved a proposal last month to raise Rs 7,500 crore through equity issuance or other instruments. Traders and fund houses are unhappy with the company looking to raise funds again within a year of going public. More so, if the funds are for a big-ticket acquisition that may or may not contribute to earnings immediately, it would constrain management bandwidth until the integration process is complete. Institutional holding in the stock has doubled over the last few quarters, instrumental in driving up prices. With public holding at barely 4 percent, Mankind may have to pay heed to what fund managers are trying to hint at.

Destination D-Street

IPO plans for this fledgling aircraft in the Indian skies are gathering steam. The chatter is that two rounds of discussions have already occurred and the carrier should make a Dalal Street landing before this year ends.