Rs. 16,000-crore claims: Stuck projects – ITNL claims exaggerated, say analysts.

IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL) seems to have exaggerated the amounts it expects to receive from claims filed for its stuck road projects. On September 4, the company told shareholders at its annual general meeting (AGM) it has filed claims for Rs. 16,000 crore with the government. This amounts to a misrepresentation of facts, analysts at one of the rating agencies FE spoke to said.

This is because about two weeks earlier, on August 14, the company had told analysts on a conference call it has filed claims for about Rs. 9,000 crore, of which it expected to receive about Rs 3,500-4,500 crore. IL&FS, the parent of ITNL had, till September 29 defaulted on inter-corporate deposit payments and commercial paper to the tune of Rs 3,761 crore. It was only after the defaults took place that the company came out with a different number to present itself in a better light, said an analyst. A look at ITNL’s portfolio does not present a rosy picture. The total losses on the roads portfolio is Rs. 585.81 crore, as on March 31, 2018.

Several of its road projects have run up losses. The debt due on account of half of its 26 road projects on March 31, 2018, was Rs 17,761 crore, or about half of ITNL’s total consolidated debt of almost Rs. 40,000 crore, according to available data from the company’s investor presentations. ITNL reported a 55% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in consolidated net profit for FY18 to Rs. 65.07 crore. The road projects also contributed significantly to the overall losses suffered by the parent group.

Chenani Nashri Tunnelway, MP Border Checkpost Development Company (MP Border) and Moradabad Bareilly Expressway contributed 17%, 14% and 12.3% each to the overall losses of the IL&FS Group. Of ITNL’s 26 road projects spanning 13,493 km in India, 15 are toll projects of which 11 are operational and four are under construction.

The remaining 11 are annuity projects, of which eight are operational and three under construction. ITNL Road Infrastructure Development Company (IRIDCL) and MP Border reported delays in loan repayment obligation due on June 30, 2018. ITNL also refused to offer financial support to its Kiratpur Ner Chowk Expressway project in Himachal Pradesh, currently facing project cost overruns.

“As a result, the company was dependent on funding support from promoters for debt servicing. The promoters did not make the funds available in June,” ICRA said in a note on the subsidiary, dated July 12. The new board of IL&FS, which was appointed by the government, is expected to meet on Thursday to draw up a new plan in an attempt to normalise proceedings at the crisis-hit company.

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS