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JSW Energy which had to incur Rs 187 crore loss for the first quarter on account of depreciating Rupee, now says that it will now hedge all its forex liabilities.
“We have no natural hedge against currency fluctuations. So, we decided that we will not keep any unhedged liabilities on the balance sheet. Rupee might not depreciate further but it is very difficult to predict,” said N K Jain, vice chairman of JSW Energy.
The power producer which has 1,200 megawatts imported coal based power plant said that it currently has $220 million (Rs 1,298 crore) unhedged, of its $300 million (Rs 1,770 crore) total forex liabilities.
“We will either pay off the amount that we are importing coal from,” said Sanjay Sagar, chief executive officer, JSW Energy.
The company has already initiated the process around 3-4 weeks back, and has already hedged the payments for the coal to be imported for the month of July. It spends around $35 million (Rs 206 crore) per month on coal purchases, depending on international coal prices. The process has expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year.
Profit hit by forex losses
Forex losses have hit the profits of the company for the quarter as it stood at Rs 214 crore. In the same quarter last year, its net profits were at Rs 3.4 as it was hit by a Rs 232 crore exchange fluctuation that quarter as well.
“If not for the forex loss, we could have posted one of the highest ever quarterly net profits this quarter,” said Sagar. The company already posted its highest ever net revenues at Rs 2,472 crore which went up by 13 % from Rs 2,191 crore in the same quarter last year. It also posted its highest ever EBIDTA (earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation) at Rs 968 crore which went up 47% from the previous quarter.
The company's average plant load factor (PLF) or utilisation of its power plants is at 82%. It also clocked in highest ever net generation of 5.09 million units of power. The company's total power generating capacity is at 3,140 megawatts.
