 "Tata Power")
Private power producer Tata Power reported a 6.9 per cent rise in its profit after tax (PAT) (attributable to the company) for the September-ended quarter (Q2FY24) on the back of higher revenue.
For Q2FY24, Tata Power’s PAT was at Rs 876 crore, higher than Rs 819 reported a year ago. Revenue for the company rose 12.2 per cent to Rs 15,738 crore, largely driven by higher revenue from core businesses of generation, transmission, and distribution, the company said. Sequentially, the company’s net profit fell 10 per cent.
In a Bloomberg poll, eight analysts estimated a revenue of Rs 15,695 crore and six analysts estimated an adjusted net income of Rs 881 crore. Tata Power’s reported profit after tax was at Rs 1,017 crore, up 9 per cent. EBITDA for the quarter under review, the company said, was up 51 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs 3,087 crore.
The company also said its core businesses reported the highest ever EBITDA in the first half of the current financial year. In its statement, the company added, “During the quarter, a significant 84 per cent contribution in the Company’s PAT came from the core businesses, while the contributions from overseas joint ventures, including coal mining operations, continue to decline.”
The company said its consolidated operating income for the quarter under review was helped by higher project execution, higher plant load factor (PLF) in Mundra, and higher sales across Odisha Discoms.
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The company’s Mundra unit is currently operating under Section 11 orders. Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer and managing director for Tata Power, in a post-media call noted, the company continues to discuss power purchase agreements with procurers for the Mundra unit. “We will be in a position to close this (the PPA discussions) before Section 11 ends,” Sinha said. Last month, the power ministry had invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, to direct all the imported coal-based units to operate and generate power to their full capacity up to June 2024.
On its solar cell and module unit in Tamil Nadu, Sinha said the first cell production will roll out in the March-ending quarter of FY24.
Of Tata Power’s total installed capacity portfolio of 14,381 MW, 38 per cent is currently green. Sinha added, the company is on track to take this share to 50 per cent in the next 24 months’ time.
Commenting on the overall power demand situation in the country, Sinha said the company will continue to remain focused on renewable energy. “We do not have any plans at the moment to take up any coal-based power projects,” he said. Tata Power aims to have 70 per cent of its power portfolio as green by 2030.
For its solar utility EPC division, Tata Power said, it has terminated projects worth Rs 1,158 crore for unfavourable economics. Sinha said these were projects won in 2021 and 2022 and were facing issues in terms of land availability and related commercial concerns.
On coal, Sinha said the company expects prices to remain at the current levels and does not anticipate any major changes.
