GMR Airports shares hit fresh 52-week high after GQG Partners buys stake

Shares of GMR Airports Infrastructure extended their gaining streak for the third straight session on Monday, propelling the stock to hit a fresh 52-week high in early deals. The stock got a boost after the U.S.-based boutique investment firm GQG Partners acquired a 4.7% stake in the airport infrastructure development company through a block deal on Friday.

The Rajiv Jain-led GQG Partners, which grabbed headlines early this year after the investment boutique invested in Adani group following the Hindenburg Research report, picked up stake at ₹59.1 per share, amounting to ₹1,672 crore, as per BSE data.

In March this year, GQG Partners made an investment of ₹15,446 crore in four listed Adani group companies - Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), and Adani Transmission Limited (ATL). Later, the firm raised its stake in billionaire Gautam Adani-controlled entities in a staggered manner.

Apart from Adani group, GQG Partners made investments in other companies such as IDFC First Bank and Patanjali Foods, this year. While the American boutique investment firm picked up a 2.6% stake in IDFC First Bank for ₹1,530 crore, it acquired around 6% stake in Patanjali Foods for ₹2,400 crore.

On Monday, GMR Airports shares opened 4.5% higher at ₹72 against the previous closing price of ₹68.89 on the BSE. In the first hour of trade so far, the largecap stock gained as much as 4.9% to hit a fresh 52-week high of ₹72.3 on the BSE. The stock price doubled from its 52-week low of ₹36 touched on January 27, 2023.

At the time of reporting, shares of GMR Airports were trading 2.7% higher at ₹70.74, with a market capitalisation of ₹42,698 crore.

In the last three sessions, the share price of GMR Airports has risen as much as 17.8% from ₹61.35 at the end of trade on December 6 on the BSE. The counter has witnessed solid gain in the last one year, surging 64.5% in 12-month; 74% in the calendar year 2023; 67.5% in six months; and 24% in a month.

In the second quarter ended September 30, 2023, GMR Airports’ consolidated net loss narrowed to ₹190 crore from loss of ₹197 crore in the year-ago period. The total income rose 25% year-on-year to ₹1,607 crore in Q2 FY24, driven by strong growth in traffic. On the operating front, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 34% YoY to ₹848 crore in Q2 FY24 as compared to the same period last year.

Incorporated in 1998, GMR Airports is the largest private airport operator in Asia and the second largest in the world with a passenger handling capacity of over 189 million annually. The GMR group operates in the lines of business of airport development, operations and management, and energy, and is involved in the development of more than 25 airports across the country.

Expanding its overseas footprint, the company is developing and operating Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia, in collaboration with Angkasa Pura II (AP II). It is also providing technical services to the architecturally renowned and the second busiest airport in the Philippines, Mactan Cebu International Airport in Cebu. The Group is currently developing two major greenfield airport projects in India and Greece. 

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