Suzlon posts Q1 loss of Rs 576 cr

Renewable energy firm Suzlon Group has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 575 crore for the quarter ended June on account of decline in sales and increase in forex losses.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 47.84 crore in the same period a year ago.

"Indian wind market is on a growth trajectory with 7.5 GW of capacity already auctioned, from this we have the highest order share. However, FY19 may not see huge commissioning volumes as the transition period is prolonging and as a result of the new bidding regime, project execution time has increased from 9 to 18 months. This has caused temporary delay in realizations," Suzlon Group CEO J P Chalasani said in a statement.

He said that despite this, the industry is set to grow from FY2020 onwards as projects won earlier will be executed and new bids are in the pipeline.

"We have an order book of 1,134 MW. Suzlon is well positioned to cater to the growing market, with its slew of newly launched technologically advanced products offering higher Plant Load Factor (PLF) and reduced Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE). We are also focussing on select profitable international market," Chalasani said.

The foreign exchange expense of the company grew about six-fold to Rs 253.64 crore from Rs 42.43 crore during the period under review.

The consolidated income from operations almost halved to Rs 1,289.94 crore in reported quarter from Rs 2,606.87 crore in corresponding quarter of 2017-18.

"We have delivered 155 MW in first quarter of financial year 2019, which is seasonally a low volume quarter. To ensure competitiveness under the new bidding regime, we remain focused on optimizing costs across the board, and further reducing our working capital levels," Suzlon Group CFO Kirti Vagadia said.

The company has withdrawn its operational guidance for current financial year in light of the prolonged transition.

"We continue to maintain our debt reduction target of 30-40 per cent by the end of financial year 2019, Vagadia said.