KEC International, the RPG Group’s EPC musketeer, just pulled off an 11% YoY revenue bump and a 42% jump in quarterly profit. With an order book of ₹40,000 Cr (read: backlog longer than Delhi Metro at rush hour), this infra major is straddling everything from power lines to data centres to solar parks. But with debt at ~₹3,957 Cr and P/E at a frothy 38x, the stock is priced like L&T-lite, even though execution margins are still in single digits.
2. Introduction
Let’s be clear – KEC is the infrastructure equivalent of that student who joins every extracurricular: towers, substations, railways, metros, cables, solar, oil pipelines, even defence infra. If it needs concrete, steel, or wires, KEC has probably tendered for it.
As RPG Group’s flagship, it enjoys both brand credibility and the occasional side-eye for being the “less glamorous cousin” of L&T. Still, over 275 projects across 110 countries give it the air of an overworked but ambitious engineering mercenary.
FY25 was all about T&D revival – the segment grew 48% in two years, while transportation revenues slipped 44% (Kavach system or not, Indian Railways payments still run late). Civil infra and renewables were the surprise performers, with civil growing 35% and renewables 870% (from almost nothing).
The ₹870 Cr QIP in FY24 gave it capital to bid aggressively, but the question lingers: can KEC move EBITDA margins beyond 8–9% without sweating like a site worker in May heat?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
KEC operates in six business buckets:
T&D (57% revenue) Transmission lines up to 1,200 kV, substations, underground cabling. Bread and butter of KEC, back with global demand tailwinds.
Civil (20%) From warehouses and water plants to data centres and defence infra. Basically the “we’ll build whatever you want” division.
Transportation (9%) Rail track laying, overhead electrification, signalling, telecom, Kavach. Once 21% of sales, now cut down to single digits. A sector in railway reform purgatory.
Cables (8%) Power and instrumentation cables. Spun into subsidiary KEC Asian Cables in FY25 via slump sale (₹125 Cr), but still revenue-accretive.
Renewables (4%) Mega solar projects, wind, hybrid, hydrogen. Growing from near-zero base. Two 500 MW solar EPC projects in Karnataka & Rajasthan are the poster children.
Oil & Gas (2%) Pipelines and stations. Shrinking share, but still gives KEC the “energy EPC” badge.
Translation: they’re the buffet restaurant of infra – not the best at one dish, but offering everything from dal to sushi.
4. Financials Overview
Source table
Metric
Latest Qtr (Jun’25)
YoY Qtr (Jun’24)
Prev Qtr (Mar’25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue
₹5,023 Cr
₹4,512 Cr
₹6,872 Cr
+11.3%
-26.9%
EBITDA
₹350 Cr
₹270 Cr
₹539 Cr
+29.6%
-35.1%
PAT
₹125 Cr
₹88 Cr
₹268 Cr
+42.0%
-53.4%
EPS (₹)
4.68
3.41
10.08
+37.2%
-53.6%
Comment: Execution was strong YoY, but QoQ drop reminds us infra is seasonal – like mangoes.
