Adani Ports Q1 profit falls 9% to Rs 697 cr

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) today reported 9 per cent decline in consolidated profit to Rs 697.40 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2018-19.

It had posted net profit of Rs 767.52 crore in the April-June quarter of last fiscal, 2017-18, APSEZ said in a filing to BSE.

The company's consolidated income also decreased to Rs 2,703.86 crore during quarter under review, from Rs 2,959.63 crore in the year-ago period.

Its total expenditure during the said period was at Rs 1,781.46 crore as against Rs 1,867.43 crore in April-June 2017.

The company said in a separate statement that it completed acquisition of Kattupalli port during the first quarter of the current fiscal, and recommenced operations at its Vizag Terminal.

Cargo volume grew by 9 per cent over year ago quarter, it said.

"The growth was led by crude which grew by 65 per cent and containers which grew by 16 per cent. The cargo volume growth was led by our three larger ports. While Mundra port grew by 5 per cent, Hazira grew by 14 per cent and Kattupalli port grew by 13 per cent," it said.

At nine per cent, the company has clocked its highest quarterly throughput, APSEZ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Whole Time Director (WTO) Karan Adani said in the statement.

"This has been possible due to our continued efforts to diversify cargo at all our ports. Port EBITDA (earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization) margins have expanded...we expect EBITDA to continue to expand due to our focus on higher capacity utilisation, automation and mechanisation through use of technology. Our focus will be to further strengthen our balance sheet and to continue best practices in health, safety and environment processes," he said.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone is India's leading port developer and operator.

APSEZ has 10 strategically located ports and terminals, including Mundra, Dahej, Kandla and Hazira in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odisha, Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Kattupalli and Ennore in Chennai - representing 24 per cent of India's total port capacity.