Rkcpl Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does: civil construction of specialised structures, elevated roads, flyovers, bridges, road over-bridges, highways, expressways, drainage and canals, under EPC contracts and hybrid-annuity (HAM) projects (DRHP p.26).

Who pays it: government bodies: at March 2025, NHAI was 60.10% of the order book, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways 18.20%, the Government of Odisha 12.87% and Indian Railways 7.73% (DRHP p.36).

Why it is raising money: ₹2,000.00 million for working capital, ₹1,380.00 million for three highway subsidiaries to repay debt, ₹1,300.15 million for construction equipment, ₹500.00 million to repay the company's own debt, and the rest for general purposes (DRHP p.27).

How fast it has grown: revenue from ₹8,617 million in FY23 to ₹10,933 million in FY24 and ₹12,707 million in FY25 (DRHP p.29).

The one thing to understand: profitable growth that has turned cash-hungry. FY25 operating cash flow was negative ₹4,001.63 million, which the company links to slower cash collection on contracts, and borrowings rose from ₹1,162 million to ₹5,093 million; the order book shrank from ₹33,455 million to ₹29,666 million (DRHP p.29, DRHP p.53, DRHP p.128).

02The business, in plain words

A structural contractor bids for highway and bridge projects, builds them with its own equipment and crews, and is paid against certified progress; in HAM projects its subsidiaries also fund part of the cost and are repaid over years.

NHAI tenders an elevated stretch of highway → RKCPL wins the bid → it builds the structure with its crews and equipment → NHAI certifies the work and pays against bills.

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ work executed × (contract price − materials, labour and equipment cost) − interest. EBITDA margin was 21.56% in FY25 (DRHP p.128).

03Where the money comes from

Source: DRHP p.36. At July 2025 Punjab was 26.76% of the order book and Telangana 25.68% (DRHP p.47).

04The growth record

Source: DRHP p.29, DRHP p.53, DRHP p.128.

Revenue grew at a compound 21.4% a year from FY23 to FY25 and profit after tax at 30.6% a year (our arithmetic, DRHP p.29). On a standalone basis, trade receivable days were 47 in FY23, 36 in FY24 and 22 in FY25 (DRHP p.112).

05What the growth is made of

Execution of an order book built mostly with NHAI. Revenue rose 16% in FY25 while profit rose 5%, and the book-to-bill ratio fell from 3.15 to 2.33 over two years (our arithmetic, DRHP p.128). At July 2025 the order book was ₹26,175.07 million across 17 projects, 18.89% of it HAM (DRHP p.39).

06Earnings quality

Over FY23 to FY25, operating cash flow totalled negative ₹2,411.31 million against profit of ₹4,180.51 million (our arithmetic, DRHP p.29, DRHP p.53). Net working capital days rose from 11 in FY24 to 40 in FY25 (DRHP p.128). Net debt swung from a net cash position of ₹471.47 million to net debt of ₹4,543.42 million (DRHP p.128). Other income was ₹60.25 million in FY25 against profit before tax of ₹2,212.71 million, or 2.7% of it (our arithmetic, DRHP p.81).

07The balance sheet

Source: DRHP p.29, DRHP p.128.

08What the money is for

Source: DRHP p.27. The subsidiaries are Bathinda Ludhiana Highway, Poanta Saheb Highway and Ambala Ring Road Highway (DRHP p.27). A pre-IPO placement of up to ₹1,400 million may be made (DRHP p.27).

09Who is selling

Source: DRHP p.28. The cover gives new shares of up to ₹7,000.00 million and shares sold of up to ₹5,500.00 million, while the summary gives new shares of up to ₹7,500.00 million; both give a total of ₹12,500.00 million (DRHP p.1, DRHP p.26). The cover names Naresh Kumar and Krishan Kumar Goyal as selling up to ₹2,750.00 million each (DRHP p.3).

10Promoters

The promoters are Ram Kumar Goyal, Naresh Kumar and Krishan Kumar Goyal, who with the promoter group own all the shares (DRHP p.26, DRHP p.28). The only proceeding against a promoter is a pending tax assessment (DRHP p.29, DRHP p.30).

11Who already owns it

Source: DRHP p.28.

12What changed just before the IPO

• Borrowings: up from ₹1,162 million to ₹5,093 million in FY25 (DRHP p.29).
• Clients: new work from Odisha and Indian Railways (DRHP p.36).
• Order book: down 11% in FY25 (our arithmetic, DRHP p.128).

The last allotment of shares was in March 2022, when unsecured loans were converted into 20,491,049 shares at ₹10 each (DRHP p.94). M K S G & Co. resigned as statutory auditor in April 2024 and Datta Singla & Co. was appointed in its place (DRHP p.87). The company converted into a public limited company, with a fresh certificate of incorporation dated June 26, 2025 (DRHP p.3).

13Capacity and expansion

Capacity is equipment and crews. The proceeds fund ₹1,300.15 million of construction equipment (DRHP p.27).

14Market size and industry structure

The CRISIL report cited in the offer document expects India's construction industry to grow 6 to 8% a year from FY2026 to FY2030, driven by road and railway spending (DRHP p.26). Those projections are CRISIL's, and newboard has not tested them.

15Competitive position

What the document claims, and what it rests on:

• Technically demanding structures such as elevated roads and flyovers, citing CRISIL (DRHP p.26).
• Margins above several listed peers in FY25 (DRHP p.129).

Against that: dependence on NHAI and a few states, the cash demands of HAM and slow collections, and a shrinking order book (DRHP p.36, DRHP p.47, DRHP p.53).

16Peers the company named

Source: DRHP p.126. The table also lists HG Infra Engineering, KNR Constructions and J Kumar Infra; the peers' average P/E is 10.43 (DRHP p.125, DRHP p.126).

No P/E is possible for the company until a price band is set.

17Risks, in plain words

• NHAI. 60% of the order book (DRHP p.36).
• Cash. Negative operating cash flow in FY25 (DRHP p.53).
• States. Punjab and Telangana half the order book (DRHP p.47).
• HAM. Subsidiaries carry debt on annuity projects (DRHP p.27).
• Order book. Shrinking and may not convert (DRHP p.128).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: DRHP p.29, DRHP p.30. Seven of the company's tax matters are reopened income-tax assessments (DRHP p.30). Contingent liabilities at March 2025 were ₹3,424.57 million, of which ₹3,421.92 million was bank guarantees and surety bonds for performance obligations (DRHP p.30).

19Related-party transactions

Not read in detail for this study. The three promoters were paid remuneration of ₹64.80 million together in FY23 and ₹132.00 million in FY25 (our arithmetic, DRHP p.31).

20What the offer document does not say

In the sections read for this study, the document does not give:

• The correct split between new shares and shares sold, given the conflicting figures (DRHP p.1, DRHP p.26).
• How much each promoter is selling, in the pages read.
• What the four civil claims worth ₹455.73 million concern, in the pages read.
• How much equity the HAM subsidiaries still need, in the pages read.
• The price band, lot size or issue dates, which is normal at DRHP stage.

21Five questions for management

1. Is the new-share portion ₹7,000 million or ₹7,500 million?
2. Which contracts caused the ₹4 billion operating cash outflow, and when will it reverse?
3. Why did the order book shrink in FY25?
4. How much debt remains in the three HAM subsidiaries after repayment?
5. What are the four claims the company has filed, worth ₹456 million?

1Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 1 document the company filed. The 50 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.