Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works Limited

Recommendation history

• 2024-05-30HoldHold: FY24 was soft at INR164 crore revenue, INR50 crore EBITDA and INR33 crore PAT, but the INR733 crore order book and Bahrain/IWAI expansion support a potentially sharp FY25 rebound. Management framed FY25 revenue at INR270–300 crore and roughly 30% EBITDA margins, but the outlook depends on execution, additional order wins and INR100–160 crore of planned capex; Bahrain has produced only about INR15 crore so far and its INR450 crore opportunity is market-driven rather than a firm government contract.
• 2022-12-09No clear callNo-conviction: this EGM authorizes a preferential issue of up to 565,000 shares at ₹700 each, potentially raising ₹39.55 crore, for working capital, dredging/small-craft capex, expansion and general corporate purposes. The capital raise supports fleet and project growth, but the meeting provided no earnings, project backlog, return-on-capital, investor-identity or dilution detail, and there was no shareholder Q&A.
• 2022-05-31HoldHold. FY2022 showed strong execution: revenue rose 84% to Rs.61.6 crore, EBITDA reached Rs.32.9 crore at a 53% margin, PAT was Rs.20.9 crore, CFO conversion was 105%, and net debt/EBITDA fell to 0.12x. The Rs.182 crore order book supports FY2023 revenue of roughly Rs.100–125 crore, but the call does not establish that exceptional Myanmar margins are sustainable, while several expansion plans remain unproven.
• 2022-03-06BuyBuy: FY22 revenue rose 84% to Rs.61.6 crore, EBITDA was Rs.32.9 crore at a 53% margin, PAT was Rs.20.9 crore, and operating cash flow was Rs.34.6 crore. The Rs.182 crore order book supports FY23 revenue of over Rs.100–125 crore, but FY22 margins benefited from an exceptional Myanmar contract and management acknowledged future margins could be about 5 percentage points lower.
• —HoldHold: H1 FY23 revenue surged 541% to INR 122.7 crore, with EBITDA of INR 35.2 crore at a 28.6% margin and PAT of INR 23.8 crore, but the call did not justify underwriting the growth at current certainty. The INR 209 crore order book supports near-term execution, yet the margin outlook was cut from prior levels to a minimum of roughly 30%, while INR 500 crore of bids remain unawarded and new dredger capex depends on winning them.
• —HoldHold: KMEW delivered FY23 revenue of ₹201.5 crore, up 230%, with ₹68.6 crore EBITDA at a 34.1% margin and ₹47.2 crore PAT; the order book was above ₹600 crore, including Bahrain, against a bid pipeline exceeding ₹1,000 crore. The opportunity is attractive, but conversion of the pipeline is unproven and planned capex above ₹120 crore—funded mostly through internal accruals and debt—raises execution and balance-sheet risk.