IRFC share price jumps as much as 5%, near record high of ₹192 after Q4 results, dividend

IRFC, on Monday, declared a final dividend of ₹0.7 per share along with its March quarter results on Monday.

This, coupled with the announcement of an interim dividend of ₹0.8 per share earlier, has taken the total payout to ₹1.5 per share for financial year 2024.

For financial year 2023, IRFC had declared a similar interim dividend of ₹0.8 per share and a final dividend of ₹0.7, taking the total payout for the year to ₹1.5 per share.

Soon after listing in January 2021, IRFC had announced an interim dividend of ₹1.05 per share. It followed that up with another ₹1.5 per share payout in financial year 2022.

The recently announced dividend will be subject to shareholder approval at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). Date for the ensuing AGM is yet to be determined. Once the dividend is approved at the AGM, it will be paid to shareholders within 30 days.

IRFC’s single largest shareholder is the Union Government, which still holds a 86.36% stake in the railway financier as of March 31. Based on the total outstanding shares, the government will fetch a dividend tranche of ₹790 crore from this dividend announcement.

Along with the ₹902 crore interim dividend, the total payout for the government in financial year 2024 from IRFC, comes up to nearly ₹1,700 crore.

Along with its results, the board of IRFC has also approved raising funds to the tune of ₹50,000 crore from the domestic and international market through a mix of tax free bonds, taxable bonds on private placement or public issue basis, including capital gain bonds, government guaranteed bonds or any other method, depending on the market conditions and the funding requirement for the Indian Railways.

Shares of IRFC had made their stock market debut in January 2021 and after being flat for a better part of the next two years, the stock has gained more than 400% in the last 12 months.

At its current market price, IRFC commands a market capitalisation of ₹2.26 lakh crore, which is higher than at least one-third of the Nifty 50 constituents and also ranks among the most valued railway PSUs in the country.

Shares of IRFC are trading 3.6% higher at ₹179.55.