Adani Power Q1 net loss near doubles to Rs 454 cr

Of Rs 454 cr for June quarter, with operating income down 8%; Adani sees net profit of Rs 84 cr

Higher fuel costs on account of a rise in coal prices led to Adani Power (APL), part of the $12-billion Adani Group, showing a consolidated net loss of Rs 453.8 crore for the quarter ended June, in a report to the BSE on Thursday. The consolidated net loss a year before was Rs 232.6 crore.

Consolidated income grew by 4.2 per cent to Rs 5,648 crore over a year before This was due to operationalising the 440 Mw power purchase agreement (PPA) at its Tiroda (Maharashtra) plant, as well as higher rates due to application of Change in Law clauses in some PPAs, the company stated. On a standalone basis, the net loss was Rs 515.8 crore; in the same quarter a year before, it was Rs 206.7 crore.

Standalone total income was Rs 2,819 crore, from Rs 2,810 crore a year before.

The company said the average plant load factor in the quarter was 63 per cent, lower as compared to 66 per cent a year before. The drop was due to customer backdowns and maintenance shutdowns.

Gautam Adani, chairman, stated the company was banking on the government's SHAKTI policy to receive linkages for PPAs of its Tiroda and Kawai (Rajasthan) plants, thereby doing away with the need to import coal.

"We are satisfied by the progress in key reforms initiated by the government for coal allocation through the SHAKTI policy, as well as the potential for improvement in the financial health of discoms (power distribution companies) through the UDAY policy," he said. Apart from the hope on PPAs for Tiroda and Kawai, he said they were "continuing to engage various stakeholders for the Mundra (Kutch) plant, and remain fully committed to identifying possible remedial measures for its long-term sustainability".

Consolidated Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for the quarter fell by 7.9 per cent to Rs 1,618 crore from a year before, mainly due to higher coal costs. On the other hand, finance cost was Rs 1,407 crore, as compared to Rs 1,452 crore in the June quarter last year, primarily due to favourable currency movement.

Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL), on the other hand, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 84.1 crore in the June quarter; this was Rs 122.7 crore a year before. Its consolidated total income was Rs 619.6 crore, from Rs 637.3 crore for the same period last year. On a standalone basis, a net profit of Rs 3.6 crore; it had a net loss of Rs 26 crore in May-June last year. Standalone total income was Rs 311.7 crore, from Rs 172.4 crore earlier.

ATL saw its income from rates and incentives for the quarter at Rs 487 crore, from the earlier Rs 478 crore. After completion of ongoing projects, coupled with acquisition of Reliance Infra's operational transmission assets, ATL expects its total network to be 11,350 circuit km (ckm). Comprising 5,450 ckm in operational assets, 2,350 ckm under construction and 3,521 ckm under acquisition. Plus 28 substations and 16,200 MVA of transformer capacity.