Adani Power Q3 net loss at Rs 545 cr on costlier coal imports

Adani Power today reported a net loss of Rs 545 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, mainly due to higher costs of coal imports.
It had posted a net loss of Rs 619 core for the October- December quarter of 2012-13 fiscal.
"The net loss for the third quarter is due to higher imported coal cost due to limited availability of domestic coal," the company said in a statement.
Total Income of the company has increased from Rs 1,928 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 to Rs 4,240 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.

The consolidated total income for the nine month (April- December) period of 2013-14 fiscal increased by 97 per cent to Rs 9,920 crore compared to Rs 5,035 crore in the same period of last fiscal.
"It is a matter of pride that Mundra Power Plant has surpassed its installed capacity. The effective utilisation of increased capacity coupled with implementation of various government initiatives, we are confident and committed to meet the demand supply gap in electricity in India," said Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Power.

"The challenges of limited domestic coal availability and non-remunerative PPA (power purchase agreement) prices continued to impact our financial performance," he added.

Adani Power Chief Financial Officer Vinod Bhandawat said, however, that with "increased operational capacity, improving operating efficiencies, implementation of policy initiatives like CERC guidelines on tariff revision and reforms on SEBs and rail infrastructure for coal transportation, we are confident of better performance in the next quarters".
Power sector regulator CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission), last year, said that Adani Power should be granted compensatory tariff for its Mundra project which would provide a cushion against the escalation in cost of imported coal for the plant.
CERC also directed constitution of a Committee to recommend the compensatory tariff. The panel headed by HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh recommended around 50 paise rise in tariff for Adani's plant.

The electricity regulator is yet to finalise the recommendations of the panel after which rise in fuel cost will be passed on to the consumers.
Adani Power sold 11.2 billion units of power during the third quarter of the current fiscal (2013-14) as against six billion units in the corresponding pariod last fiscal.
The company also commissioned the second unit of 660 MW, thus completing its 1,320-MW power project in Kawai, Rajasthan.
With this, Adani Power has a total commissioned capacity of 7,920 MW, the company said.
Shares of the company closed down by 3.79 per cent at Rs 33 apiece on the BSE today.