R-Power net up 2% in September quarter

R-Power net up 2% in September quarter

Profit rose to Rs.240.22 crore, revenue stood at Rs.1,181.45 crore

Mumbai: Reliance Power Ltd (R-Power), the power generation arm of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, registered a 2% marginal year-on-year growth in net profit to Rs.240.22 crore in the quarter ended 30 September.

The net profit rose marginally despite the company’s revenue growing 57.4% to Rs.1,181.45 crore from a year earlier.

As in previous quarters, R-Power’s revenue came largely from its only operational 1,200 megawatts (MW) thermal power plant, in Rosa, Uttar Pradesh, which generated 65% more units than the year earlier.

The power plant registered a plant load factor (PLF, the measure of a power plant’s capacity utilization) of 63% in the July-September quarter, lower than the 78% registered in the April-June quarter.

A power sector analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage said the PLF was lower in the September quarter since a section of the Rosa plant was under maintenance for some days in the quarter under review. Seasonal factors were also responsible for bringing down PLF since hydro-electric power generation picks up in India during the second quarter of the fiscal—the monsoon months. He declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

“We continue our robust financial performance in the second quarter of FY2012-13 as revenue from operating assets grew 121% to Rs.1,079 crore,” R-Power chief executive J.P. Chalasani said in a statement.

Chalasani also added that the first phase of the 3960 MW thermal power plant being built by his company in Sasan, Madhya Pradesh was likely to be commissioned in the “coming weeks”.

R-Power also expects to fully commission its 600 MW thermal power project coming up at Butibori, Maharashtra, by the end of the current calendar year, the company’s statement said.

The analyst cited above mentioned that R-Power’s September quarter earnings were in line with Street estimates and more than the numbers, greater visibility on new projects nearing completion were a positive development for the company.

Shares of R-Power closed at Rs.97.30 per share on BSE on Monday, unchanged from its previous close. The bourse’s benchmark Sensex rose 0.04% to close at 18,762.87 points.

Over the last one year, R-Power share price has lost 2.01%, while the Sensex gained 6.83%.

Reliance Power has sued HT Media Ltd, publisher of Mint, in the Bombay High Court over a 12 May 2010 front-page story in Mint that it disputed. HT Media is contesting the case.