Reliance Infra's Q3 net profit at Rs.452 crore

Reliance Infrastructure, a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Saturday reported a net profit of Rs.452 crore for the third quarter of the current fiscal, inspite of Mumbai Metro and cement businesses incurring losses.

The company said its net profit for the period under review stood at Rs.452 crore from Rs.450 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

However, the net profit for the period under review would have been higher by 25 percent at Rs.564 crore without taking into account the loss of Rs.54 crore on the metro project and the cement business loss of Rs.58 crore during the quarter.

The company's total income for the quarter ended Dec 31 grew by 14 percent and stood at Rs.4,788 crore from Rs.4,218 crore in the corresponding previous quarter.

The company's consolidated net worth stood at Rs.28,619 crore ($4.5 billion) translating into a book value of Rs.1,088 per share at the end of the quarter under review.

Among the other highlights, the company's power distribution business added 64,100 new customers in the metros of Delhi and Mumbai in the third quarter.

The company maintains its lead as being the largest private sector distributor of power in the country, serving 64.7 lakh customers.

In addition, the company's power distribution business in Mumbai recovered Rs.221 crore arrears in the third quarter. It recovered Rs.689 crore arrears in the first nine months of the current fiscal.

For the infrastructure segment, the company said that over 63 million commuters travelled in the Mumbai Metro in the first eight months of operations.

"Initial fares implemented post favourable order by Hon'ble Bombay High Court," the company said in a statement adding that: "Retail and advertisement agreements for non-fare box revenue fully tied-up."

The company's roads sector's revenue increased by 11 percent and stood at Rs.155 crore in the quarter ended Dec 31 from Rs.140 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company said that 10 out of 11 road projects are revenue generating.

In the cement business, the company earned a revenue of Rs.158 crore in the quarter under review.

"Ramping up production from 5.8 mtpa operational capacity at Maihar in Madhya Pradesh,

Kundangunj in Uttar Pradesh, Butibori in Maharashtra and Durgapur in West Bengal," the statement said.

The company's EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) business earned a revenue of Rs.741 crore in the quarter under review. Its order book stood at Rs.5,705 crore as on Dec 31, 2014.

The company said that it has entered the defence manufacturing sector.