Low volumes dent Power Trading net 33 per cent

CORPORATE SCORECARD

Power Trading Corporation of India posted a 33 per cent decline in net profit for the quarter ended December 2006 to Rs 8.60 crore against Rs 12.79 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Income during the quarter declined 23 per cent to Rs 811.81 crore against Rs 1,056.54 crore during the comparable quarter last year.

The decline was on the back of a sharp dip in volume of power traded "� down 32 per cent to 2,211 million units (MU) as against 3,280 MUs in the last quarter.

"The results of this quarter reflect the uncertain situation in the market for short-term traded power due to regulatory actions as well as participant entity behaviour," said T N Thakur, chairman and managing director of the company.

However, numbers for the nine months ended December 2006 were better. Total income during the period increased by 34 per cent to Rs 3,180.32 crore as against Rs 2,363.76 crore during the corresponding period in 2005.

Volumes during the period showed a growth of 2 per cent increasing to 8,104 MUs as against 7,951 MUs. The profit after tax (PAT) decreased by 13 per cent to Rs 29.29 crore as against Rs 33.64 crore during the period under review.