Lanco books profit second quarter in running

Better performance by operational assets helped Lanco Infratech recover for the second consecutive quarter. The Gurgaon-based company recorded a consolidated profit of Rs 137 crore during the quarter ending December 31, 2015, bringing down its cumulative loss for the first nine months by 95% to Rs 65 crore against Rs 1,412 crore in 2014-15.

According to T Adi Babu, chief financial officer, Lanco, the Kondapalli Phase 3A (371 MW) started generation from November 3, 2015, under gas pooling mechanism, while Kondapalli Phase 3B (371 MW) declared COD on January 9, 2016. Besides, Amarkantak Unit 2 (300 MW) restarted operations from December 5, 2015, after a gap of 32 months.

The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 98.98 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal after a gap of three years.

"The full benefit of these operational assets would be available to the company during the current quarter so the performance would be better in the fourth quarter. Besides, revenue from the EPC business would also improve," Adi Babu told Business Standard. The company's focus has now turned in speeding up under-construction projects, he said.

The adjusted EBITDA (excluding forex) increased by 120% year on year to Rs 619 crore in the third quarter from Rs 281 crore in Q3FY15.

The company that saw its gross revenue rise by 47% to Rs 2,282 crore in October-December 2015 quarter from Rs 1,557 crore in the same period previous year, saw 62% of its business coming from the power sector.

Adi Babu said the company's debt level remained same except for a net reduction of Rs 500 crore because of its Teesta project in Andhra Pradesh being taken over by the lenders.