Adani Ports registers 47% jump in Q1 profit on strong cargo volumes

Shares of the Adani Group company were up 1.2% after the results, while the broader benchmark Nifty 50 gained 0.2%

India's Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone reported a 47 per cent jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, as strong commercial activity in the world's fifth-largest economy lifted cargo volumes.

Shares of the Adani Group company were up 1.2 per cent after the results, while the broader benchmark Nifty 50 gained 0.2 per cent.

India's largest private port operator by volumes, Adani Ports said its consolidated net profit rose to 31.13 billion rupees (nearly $372 million) in its fiscal first quarter ended June, from Rs 2,115 crore a year earlier.

Revenue increased by more than 11 per cent to Rs 6,956 crore. This excludes the Rs 603 crore received from the divestment of the Ennore terminal in Tamil Nadu state.

 

Port operators have benefited from sustained cargo movement in and out of India, supported by healthy domestic demand and sturdy commercial activity in Asia's third-largest economy .

Cargo volumes handled by Adani Ports rose 7.5 per cent in the June quarter to 109 million metric tons (MMT), despite a loss of 6 million metric tons (MMT) in April and May due to the shutdown of its Gangavaram port in Andhra Pradesh state.

Adani Ports had declared a force majeure at its Gangavaram port in April after agitation by certain section of employees disrupted cargo handling and other associated cargo operations.

The company, which is a part of billionaire Gautam Adani's ports-to-power conglomerate, operates 13 ports and terminals in India, including the country's largest container handling port in Mundra in the western state of Gujarat.

The Mundra port handled 17.6 MMT cargo in May, a record monthly volume for any Indian port.

Last month, smaller rival JSW Infrastructure posted a lower quarterly profit due to higher expenses.

($1 = 83.7155 Indian rupees)