Essar Ports' Q3 net profit rises 4.6% to Rs 98.34 cr

Essar Ports today reported a 4.6% jump in its net profit at Rs 98.34 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014 on the back of higher sales.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 94.01 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Revenues during the period under review went up to Rs 434.68 crore as against Rs 376.86 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last financial year (2013-14).

"We are quite bullish at the moment with a few of our projects expected to start operations during this year. We are well positioned to capture the growth," Rajiv Agarwal, Managing Director, Essar Ports said.

The company said the final forest clearance for the Salaya terminal in Gujarat is received and commercial operation is expected in October this year.

Financial closure for the Visakhapatnam iron ore terminal is completed.

Project site for the development of coal terminal at Paradip Port is expected to handed over by Paradip Port Trust soon, post which project construction will start, the company said in a statement.

Essar Ports is in the process of increasing its aggregate ports capacity to 194 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) with expansion of Hazira facility from 30 MTPA at present to 50 MTPA; a new 20 MTPA dry bulk terminal at Salaya in Gujarat; and an 18 MMTPA coal import terminal at Paradip in Odisha and a 32 MTPA iron ore export terminal consisting of three berths at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Shares of Essar Ports today closed at Rs 115.10, up 3.18% on the BSE from its previous close.