Tata Power swings to loss in Q4

Mumbai: Tata Power Co Ltd on Friday posted a loss for the fourth quarter ended 31 March from a profit a year earlier, due to one-time charges.

Tata Power, which faced a setback last month after the Supreme Court set aside a tribunal ruling that allowed power producers to charge compensatory tariff from consumers, said its profit was hurt due to contractual obligations.

Tata Power reported a consolidated net loss of Rs246.90 crore for the fourth quarter, compared with a consolidated net profit of Rs82.95 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from operations fell 1.8% to Rs7166.79 crore from Rs7297.74 crore due to lower power purchase and fuel costs, Tata Power said in a statement.

The company said following the Supreme Court order, it has “intensified its efforts to contain costs by alternate sourcing of coal and other initiatives to reduce cost”.

Thirteen analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected Tata Power to report a consolidated net profit of Rs472.4 crore while 14 analysts had expected revenue of Rs8121.8 crore.

Revenue at the company’s largest power business fell 12.3% to ₹ 5975.13 crore during the quarter, from ₹ 6815.32 crore a year earlier. Its ‘others’ business revenue rose 90.8% to ₹ 1471.36 crore from ₹ 771.17 crore a year earlier. Total expenses rose 0.8% to ₹ 287.22 crore.

For the full year, Tata Power’s consolidated net profit rose 20.6% to ₹ 948.56 crore, while revenue from operations fell 5.4% to ₹ 27897.72 crore.

Generation crossed 52,000 million units for the first time during FY17, the company said. It has added about 1427 megawatt (MW) capacity through projects this year.

Together with its subsidiaries, Tata Power operates gross generation capacity of 10,613 MW.

“Renewables continue to be one of our key focus areas… The renewable energy business made a healthy contribution to PAT (profit after tax) this year,” said chief executive Anil Sardana.

The company last year announced the acquisition of clean energy company Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd in a Rs.9,249 crore deal.

Tata Power’s shares closed at Rs84.20, up 0.60% on the BSE on Friday.