Astra Microwave Products shares rose 7% in intraday trade on Tuesday to close at Rs 326.70 on the BSE after the company announced that its board would meet on Friday, December 9, to consider raising up to Rs 400 crore.

“The Company’s Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for December 9, 2022, to consider and approve the issuance of any instrument or security (including equity), convertible bonds in whole/part, global depositary receipts, American depositary receipts, Foreign currency convertible bonds, warrants or any combination thereof, in tranches or tranches, with an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 400 crore,” it said in an exchange filing on Monday.

Shares of the aerospace and defence company have fallen 2% over the past three months, underperforming the broader market, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 6%. However, over the past six months, it has gained 45%, compared with a 12% gain for the benchmark index. It hit an all-time high of Rs 375.15 on August 26.

In the first half (April-September) of the current financial year 2022-23 (H1FY23), Astra Microwave’s profit after tax rose 170% year-on-year to Rs 34 crore on the back of strong operating performance.

The company’s revenue rose 12% year-on-year to Rs 332 crore. Ebitda’s margin improved sharply to 19.7% from 10.7% in H1FY22.

According to management, the improvement in profit margin was mainly due to an increase in domestic sales compared to the previous period and a change in the product mix sold during the period. It expects a larger share of domestic sales in the coming years compared to exports.

The company has an order book of Rs 1,852 crore as on September 30, 2022, which can be executed over the next 12 to 38 months.

The outlook for the business over the next 5-6 years is positive, and the management sees close to Rs 15,000-18,000 crore opportunity in its domain expertise. The company’s product portfolio spans defence, space, weather, homeland security and vertical systems.