IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited

Industrials — Infrastructure Operations · NSE

₹17.63+₹0.06 (+0.34%)

DalalBaazaar Score

55 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

Driven by moderate debt load, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, but sales are shrinking. Whether sales start growing again is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:46 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited engages in the infrastructure development in India. It operates through Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT)/Toll, Operate and Transfer (TOT); InvITs & Related Assets; and Construction segments.

IndustryInfrastructure Operations

SectorIndustrials

Employees2,963

Annual revenue₹6,252 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹6,252 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹14 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹50 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,963 employees supports ₹2.11 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.11 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., ADANI PORT & SEZ LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 5.8% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

Peer median ROE15.2%

What is the outlook?

5 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 9.2% and earnings to grow about 29.4% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+9.2%

Est. earnings growth+29.4%

Analysts5

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -1% while net margin moved +19% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect-1%

Margin effect+19%

DalalBaazaar Score

55/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 0.4% a year
✗ Profit CAGR of only 5.7%
✗ Latest-year revenue growth of -8.9% is below the longer-term trend — momentum is fading

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

51/ 100

Average

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

69/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

22.3x

3Y Median

34.9x

40 monthly readings · mean 32.5x · range 3.7x–63.3x

Sector Median

30.0x

median of 2 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 36% below its 3y median of 34.9x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 26% below the peer median of 30.0x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

34.9x median over 40 months · -36%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

30.0x median of 2 peers · -26%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

13.2x

PEG

3.91

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.8x — little room if earnings dip.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 5.0x to 1.8x.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 2.9 points over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 36% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 26% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 52.5% to 49.6%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 6.5x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
Size brings its own risk
Small Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 48%✓ 49.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 6.5x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹1,366 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✗ 5.8%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

8 / 12 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✗ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 4 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹21,294 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

22.3x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.00x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹0.79

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.1%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

5.8%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.96x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-8.9%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

47.1%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.13%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹1,366 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

13.4x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

22.5%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

15.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.24

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.01

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

12%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

17.6 / 18.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

49.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹6,325 Cr	₹7,362 Cr	₹7,052 Cr	₹6,252 Cr	-0.4%
EBITDA	₹3,323 Cr	₹3,680 Cr	₹3,426 Cr	₹3,104 Cr	-2.2%
EBITDA Margin	52.5%	50.0%	48.6%	49.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹720 Cr	₹606 Cr	₹6,481 Cr	₹850 Cr	+5.7%
EPS	₹0.6	₹0.5	₹5.37	₹0.7	+5.6%
ROE	5.4%	4.4%	32.7%	4.1%	—
ROCE	6.6%	6.6%	17.1%	5.8%	—
Total Debt	₹16,748 Cr	₹18,653 Cr	₹20,599 Cr	₹20,027 Cr	+6.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹1,333 Cr	₹3,815 Cr	₹1,773 Cr	₹1,366 Cr	+0.8%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.4% a year).

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 2.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 52.5% to 49.6% over 3 years (-2.9 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 5.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 5.6% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 5.4% to 4.1% over 3 years (-1.3 pts).

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 5.8% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 6.1% a year over 3 years.

🟡 Free Cash Flow has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.8% a year).

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹54,054 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹33,105 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹286 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2,098 Cr

Capex

-₹732 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

14.9%

Insider Holding

68.0%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.2

Ex-Dividend Date

05 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

5 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹27.3

+54.8% vs CMP

Target Range

₹22 – ₹34.5

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
ADANI PORT & SEZ LTD	29.9x	14.1%

Recent News

2 positive1 mixed3 general

IRB Infrastructure Developers posts 51% profit surge in Q1FY27

scanx.trade, 18 OctResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Tech Query: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company (AMC), Latent View Analytics, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, IRB Infrastructure Developers — What is the outlook? Where are these stocks headed?

BusinessLine, 17 Oct

IRB Infrastructure sets Sep 22 AGM; e-voting opens Sep 17

scanx.trade, 18 Oct

IRB Infra shares look set to snap 7-day losing run as board approves monetising non-core assets | All details here

Livemint, 23 Sept

IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited (NSE:IRB) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend

Simply Wall Street, 03 AugCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

Did IRB Infrastructure shares really crash 50%? Here's why you should ignore the massive plunge

The Economic Times, 30 MarPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-8.9%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Valuation

MiddlingFinancial Health · Profitability · Risk

WeakGrowth

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

3 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑