Adani Ports Q4 net profit jumps 38% to Rs 914 crore

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Tuesday reported a 38% jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 914.06 core for the March quarter on account of rise in income.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 660.73 crore in the corresponding quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal. Total income from operations rose to Rs 1,947.20 crore during the January-March quarter as against Rs 1,681.19 crore during the corresponding period a year ago.

The company's total expenditure rose to Rs 977.88 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 832.91 crore in the year-ago period of the previous fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.

For the entire year, APSEZ's net profit rose by 24% to Rs 2,867.36 crore as against Rs 2,314.33 crore in 2014-15. Its total income from operations from the year stood at Rs 7,255.73 crore as against Rs 6,151.98 crore in the previous fiscal.

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said, "Our strategy continues to bear fruit, with total operating income for the first time exceeding the $1 billion mark."

"With an expanded footprint at 10 locations along the Indian coastline, we aim to continue to drive growth within our ports business as well as look to the further development of industrial clusters and full-service logistics, with the ultimate goal of building a fully integrated logistics player of significant scale," he added.

APSEZ CEO Karan Adani said the the port has delivered, yet again, an outstanding financial performance and operationally increased both total cargo throughput and container handling.

"We will continue to look at improving our financial margins and operational efficiency, through a combination of enhanced use of technology, optimising our cargo mix and reducing our net finance cost. Our guidance for the next year, cargo volumes likely to see 10% to 15% growth and corresponding 10% to 15% growth in profit after tax," he said.

With company's expansion in capacity, it is well positioned to capitalise on the growth in domestic imports, exports and the increased need for logistics infrastructure in India, he said.

APSEZ in a statement said that after taking over the operations at Kattupalli, it has increased the volume from a mere 7,900 TEUs per month (November 2015) to over 11,500 TEUs per month (March 2016) in just 4 months - a significant achievement.

The ports at Tuna Tekra, Hazira Ports, Goa on the west coast as well as Vizag and Dhamra in the east coast continued to do well.

"Sagarmala Initiative of the Government of India will focus on seamless movement of cargo across long coast lines. Pan India existing capacities of Adani port will be better utilised due to this Initiative," it said.    

The company said it is moving towards a fully integrated logistic solution provider with one logistics arm, Adani Logistics Ltd, catering to more ports.

Consolidated cargo across all ports handled by the company was 152 million tonnes (MT) in FY16, an increase of 5%, over corresponding period last year. Consolidated cargo for the fourth quarter of FY 2015-16 stood at 37 MT.

The Adani Group is one of India's leading business houses with revenue of over $10 billion. The shares of the company closed at Rs 235.90 a scrip, up 0.96% from the previous close on the BSE.