NEW DELHI, Aug. 23 -- Weak order flows, the general election, slow execution and a liquidity crunch have landed infrastructure stocks in the dock. Their June quarter performances, too, disappointed investors. Shares of leading road developers, such as Sadbhav Engineering Ltd, Madhucon Projects Ltd, IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, Ashoka Buildcon Ltd, Dilip Buildcon Ltd and Sadbhav Infrastructure Project Ltd, have slid more than 25% since April.
To be sure, the road ahead looks tough. An analysis of 20 midsize listed companies shows that risks arising from falling profit margins and rising interest costs were growing. Interest cost to sales rose from 9.8% in Q4 FY19 to 16.2% in Q1 FY20. Importantly, interest cover, which indicates the ab...