Adani Power on Wednesday reported a profit of Rs 387.4 crore for the quarter ended September 31, up 23% year-on-year, as capacity utilisation (PLF) of its power plants inched up to 65% on better coal availability and rising demand from power distribution companies. The company’s revenue went up by 16.6% y-o-y to Rs 7,181.5 crore.
Earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose nearly 10% to Rs 2,331 crore in the quarter, but the EBITDA margin slipped by two percentage points y-o-y to 32.5%. The company’s tax expenses was about Rs 315 crore, compared with Rs 3.5-crore tax refund in the corresponding quarter last year.
There were marginal increase in finance costs, depreciation and amortisation expenses. Higher borrowings raised finance costs, partially offsetting gains from forex hedges.
Revenue from operations in the quarter included recognition of Rs 268.2 crore from various favourable regulatory cost escalations, expected relief of Rs 1,163.9 crore under “change in law” and force majeure judgments to compensate for coal shortages in its various power plants.
Commenting on the quarterly results, Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Power, said: “We are pleased to note the progress in ensuring sustainable operations of the Mundra power plant, with the Supreme Court permitting the Gujarat government to approach the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for implementation of recommendations made by the high power committee.”
In what could be seen as a relief to Adani Power, along with Tata Power and Essar Power, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Gujarat government to approach the CERC to amend the terms of power purchase agreements and raise tariffs of power supplied from imported coal-based power projects of these companies.
Till March 31, 2018, Adani, Tata and Essar had suffered financial losses of Rs 9,748 crore, Rs 8,176 crore and Rs 3,600 crore, respectively, from under-recoveries of fuel prices.
Source: financialexpress.com