Weekly wrap: How railway stocks performed in Budget week

Railway stocks remained largely unchanged during this week. Expectations of higher allocations for the sector in the Union Budget 2025 largely drove the share price. However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on February 1 left the allocation for the railway sector unchanged.

As per the Union Budget 2025, the total outlay for the railway sector for FY2026 stood at ₹2.51 lakh crore, the same as the allocation for the previous fiscal.

In the run up to the Budget, leading railway stocks like RVNL, IRCON, IRFC and RailTel saw a rally in price on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of higher allocation and infrastructure boost. However, on Saturday, railway stocks tanked up to 10% in intraday trade and most of them settled in the negative territory after no major announcement for the sector in the Budget 2025.

Besides that, company-specific developments during the week ended February 1, 2025, also drove sentiment. Here’s a look at how major railway stocks performed this week.

IRCTC

IRCTC shares remained largely unchanged during the week ended February 1. IRCTC has been in focus this month due to the ongoing Kumbh Mela that has attracted millions from across the country to the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. IRCTC has announced multiple new special trains across multiple routes in India for devotees travelling to the Kumbh Mela.

Meanwhile, IRCTC also informed the stock exchanges that a meeting of its Board of Directors has been scheduled to be held on February 11 to consider and approve the un-audited financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 2024.

Along with the financial results, IRCTC’s Board will also consider the declaration of the second interim dividend for 2024-25, if any. The railway PSU had earlier announced an interim dividend of ₹4 per share for the current fiscal. The stock settled at ₹794 apiece, down 3.44%, on the NSE on Saturday.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)

Shares of Indian Railway Finance Corp. Ltd gained 0.13% this week after the company reported a 1.98% increase in its profit after tax (PAT) to ₹1,630.66 crore for the third quarter ended December 2024 (Q3 FY25) compared with ₹1,598.93 crore a year ago.

Revenue from operations increased 0.39% to ₹6,766.39 crore during the quarter as compared to ₹6,740.02 crore in the corresponding period last year.

IRFC is a dedicated market borrowing unit of the Indian Railways, focusing on financing the acquisition of rolling stock assets, including unpowered and powered vehicles such as locomotives, wagons, coaches, trucks, flats, containers, electric multiple units, trollies, cranes, and others.

IRFC shares closed 6.32% lower at ₹141.4 apiece on the NSE.

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL)

RVNL shares were down 0.5% this week. The stock was in the spotlight after the RVNL-led consortium was awarded the BharatNet Middle-Mile network project worth over ₹13 crore in Uttar Pradesh by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

The stock closed 9.43% lower at ₹431.4 apiece on the NSE amid the plunge in railway stocks on Saturday after the presentation of Budget 2025.

IRCON International

IRCON International shares declined 0.24% in the week ended February 1. The stock closed 9.5% lower at ₹200.39 apiece on the NSE on Saturday.

On Friday, the company announced that its joint venture firm received a contract from the Public Works Department (PWD) of Manipur. The said contract is for the construction of rigid pavement and lined drains of selected roads under the Imphal East division. The total contract value is ₹631.2 crore in which Ircon’s share is ₹164.11 crore. The project is to be completed in 36 months.

RITES Ltd

RITES shares remained nearly flat this week with a loss of 1.85%.

The company announced that its revenue for Q3 FY25 fell 15.7% year-on-year to ₹575.8 crore compared with ₹682.9 crore a year ago. Net profit for the period also fell 15% year-on-year to ₹109.4 crore. Operating profit, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), fell 30.5% on a year-on-year basis to ₹117.4 crore. Ebitda margins narrowed by 440 basis points to 24.8% in Q3 FY25 compared with a year ago.

RITES also declared its third interim dividend for financial year 2025 at ₹1.9 per share. The record date for the dividend payout was fixed as February 1.

Shares of the company closed 2.24% lower at ₹255 apiece on the NSE on the Budget day.

RailTel Corporation of India

RailTel shares largely remained unchanged for the week. RailTel announced that it has secured a significant order from Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti for the procurement and maintenance of IT infrastructure projects. The order is valued at over ₹17 crore, inclusive of taxes, with an expected completion timeline set for July 27.

RailTel had also announced its financial results for Q3FY25 this week. The company recorded a 5% year-on-year increase in net profit to ₹65 crore from ₹62.1 crore a year ago. Revenue for the quarter stood at ₹767.6 crore, up 14.8% from ₹668.4 crore in Q3FY24.

The stock closed at ₹378.65 apiece, down 6.87%, on the NSE on Saturday.

Concor

Shares of Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor), a significant player in the Indian logistics and transportation industry, advanced +0.28% this week.

Earlier this week, on Thursday, Concor reported an 11% increase in consolidated net profit to ₹366.65 crore compared to ₹330.74 crore a year ago. However, revenue remained flat at ₹2,208.31 crore for the third quarter compared to ₹2,210.57 crore in the year-ago period. Concor also declared a third interim dividend of 85% for 2024-25, i.e. ₹4.25 per equity share with a face value of ₹5 each.

Among other railway stocks, Titagarh Rail declined this week, and BEML shares gained +0.65%. On the other hand, Jupiter Wagons shares tanked also remained flat for the week.