Adani Ports Q1: Net profit jumps 47.5%

New Delhi: Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ), India’s largest private port developer, reported a 47.5% rise in net profit to ₹1028.67 crore in the June 2019 quarter, from ₹697.40 in the year-ago period, boosted by an increase in cargo carried and stable margins. Consolidated revenue rose 16% year-on-year to ₹2794 crore, while the company’s EBITDA rose similarly to ₹1843 crore.

APSEZ handled cargo throughput of 57 million tonnes (mt) in the quarter, registering an 18% growth over the previous period. While the flagship port at Mundra grew by 16%, Hazira grew by 20%, Kattupalli by 16% and Dhamra by 43%. Terminals at major ports namely Tuna, Visakhapatnam, Goa and Ennore registered 35% cargo volume growth, the company said in a press release.

Consolidated revenue rose 15% to ₹2,794.47 crore, while costs remained flat year-on-year at ₹1,796.34 crore. Long-term cargo, such as cargo with take-or-pay contracts or joint venture partners, contributes 60% to APSEZ’s revenues. Adani said the company was looking to increase it to 70% in 3 years.

Karan Adani, CEO and whole time director, APSEZ, said the company’s long-term view is to target handling 400 million tonnes in volume by 2025. “We do capital expenditure of ₹2,000-2,500 crore every year to meet this target. We are still pursuing acquisition opportunities of Dighi Port, Nagarjuna Oil refinery (to build a greenfield port). We have also qualified as bidders for the Chittagong port and we are focusing on building the container terminal at Yangon. The first phase of this will be ready by October 2020.”