21 Din Mein Paisa Double, At Rs 60, PSU NBFC That Financed Adani, GMR Projects, Gains 110%; The NEXT IRFC?

It is not a hera pheri, but a smallcap stock under public sector undertaking (PSU) has doubled investors' money in 21 days. This smallcap stock is an NBFC known for financing big projects for Adani, GMR and others. Backed by Finance Ministry and registered at RBI, the PSU stock has given multi-fold returns to investors.

It reminds us of a scene when Raju (played by Akshay Kumar) in the movie Phir Hera Pheri asks Anuradha (Bipasha Basu) whether her company doubles the money. She said, yes, in 21 days! Well, we all know what happened after it, a hera pheri at its fullest. But that is not the case with Industrial Finance Corporation of India's (IDFC) share price which has doubled in just 21 days, giving investors over 120% returns.

IFCI has made investors rich in a shorter period, to be precise in less than a month. It makes us wonder whether it will be the next Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) a PSU share whose engines accelerated so much that it was among the best-performing stock in 2023 and continues to be. From last year, riding on the back of bulls, IFCI share price zoomed from small-caps to midcaps and is now large-cap with a market value of nearly Rs 2.27 lakh crore currently. IRFC shares journeyed from 33 rupees in January 2023 to Rs 192.80 in the current month.

The way IFCI shares are performing, it will only be a matter of time before the PSU becomes a star just like IRFC.

On BSE, during the trading session of January 31, IFCI shares locked at their 10% upper circuit of Rs 61.16 apiece. This meant that there were only buyers and no sellers in this stock so far in the day, something that has happened with IRFC as well.

IFCI's market cap is at Rs 15,226.48 crore.

In the previous session, IFCI shares also touched a new 52-week high of Rs 64.02 apiece before correcting slightly and ending at a downside of 4.5% at Rs 55.60 apiece. Investors booked profits since IFCI shares were already on a winning streak for six consecutive days between January 19 to January 25th, registering gains up to a mind-boggling 85%.

IFCI shares have been hitting back-to-back 10% upper circuits and new record highs on periodic in January 2024.

Just at the start of the New Year, the stock was at Rs 29 apiece on January 1, 2024.

That being said, IFCI shares have climbed by a huge 111% from the current market price. But compared to a new record high of Rs 64.02, the stock has skyrocketed by nearly 121% on BSE.

IFCI will declare its Q3 earnings on February 9 for the current financial year. In Q2FY24, IFCI reported a net profit of Rs 172.76 crore, on a consolidated basis, compared to a net loss of Rs 129.36 crore in Q1FY24. Meanwhile, revenue from operations more than doubled to Rs 112.25 crore in Q2FY24 versus Rs 54.75 crore in Q1FY24.

IFCI was set up as a Statutory Corporation ("then Industrial Finance Corporation of India") in 1948 to provide medium and long-term finance to industry. In 1993, after the repeal of the Industrial Finance Corporation Act, IFCI became a Public Limited Company, registered under the Companies Act, of 1956. IFCI is also registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a Systemically Important Non-Deposit Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC-ND-SI) and is also a notified Public Financial Institution under Section 2(72) of the Companies Act, 2013.

As per the website, IFCI provides financial assistance for the growth of diverse industries across the country. Financial activities include various types of projects like airports, roads, telecom, power, real estate, manufacturing, services sector and other such allied projects. During its 70 years of existence, financial assistance has been provided by IFCI for setting up major projects like Adani Mundra Port, GMR Goa International Airport, Salasar Highways, NRSS Transmission, and Raichur Power Corporation to name a few.