Tata Power's consolidated net profit for the second quarter surged by 83 per cent to Rs 672 crore, as compared to Rs 367 crore in the same period last year.
“Forex gains and other income are the reasons why profit is high this quarter. We had other income as well, as some of our subsidiaries were sold off as non-core investments,” said S Ramakrishnan, executive director, finance.
The quarter saw forex gains in Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd, a subsidiary, amounting to Rs 190 crore. The sale of non-core assets by subsidiaries resulted in income of Rs 214 crore.
Total income for the quarter grew by one per cent to Rs 4,809 crore from Rs 4,753 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. "Flat revenues are because fuel costs went down this quarter (their rates are linked to this). If you look at our segment performace, profitability in power business for the quarter grew by 12.5 per cent and the coal business grew by seven per cent," said Ramakrishnan.
The company added 8,031 customers in the quarter, of which 5,130 were changeover customers from other utilities in Mumbai, taking its total customer base to 84,831. Its distribution business in Delhi, North Delhi Power, posted revenues of Rs 1,185 crores during the quarter, a growth of 17 per cent. Its joint venture in transmission, Powerlinks' revenues went down by three per cent to Rs 74 crore. The trading arm traded 1,067 million units during the quarter, as compared to 807 million units in the previous year.
The power producer's ultra mega power project in Mundra has achieved a project progress of 65 per cent, and the first unit is expected to be commissioned in September 2011. It is also implementing a 1,050-Mw project in Maithon (Jharkhand) and the first unit of the project is expected to be commissioned in the last quarter of this financial year.
