NEW DELHI: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), India’s largest port developer and the logistics arm of Adani Group, today saw a 13.65 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 710.25 crore for the first quarter ended June on account of higher tax. The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 822.57 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing. Its total income rose to Rs 2,959.63 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,085.14 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The total expenses of the company rose to Rs 1,867.43 crore in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal as against Rs 1,206.40 crore in the year-ago quarter.
The Profit after Tax is lower due to higher tax incidence at Mundra which is now out of tax holiday period, the company said adding, however, from a tax cash flow angle, there is no change (impact) as MAT credit of earlier years is available to the tune of Rs 2,700 crore, the company said in a statement. APSEZ Chief Executive Officer and Whole-Time Director Karan Adani said, “Operations in our port and logistic business continues to be robust. With our string of ports across India providing multi point access to India’s hinterland.” He said, “We expect our cargo volumes to grow as per our earlier guidance in FY18. Mundra port is on the verge of becoming the largest container handling port in India. We would continue to pursue our plans to expand our Logistic foot prints by adopting Asset light model. Our aim is to provide seamless hinterland connectivity for our customers across our ports.”
Adani added that higher capacity utilisation, focus on operational efficiencies by automation and technology upgrades and focus on cost reduction will ensure higher Cash flows and the company will continue moving forward and setting benchmarks in this industry in line with the aims and goals of the nation. The company said in the first quarter of FY18, APSEZ handled cargo of 50 million tonne (MT), which includes 6 MT of cargo handled by Abbot Point Operations Pty Ltd, Australia.
It said in line with strategy to diversify cargo mix, container volumes grew by 21 per cent and other bulk cargo grew by 12 per cent while container volumes at Mundra grew by 20 per cent, Hazira by 25 per cent and Kattupalli port grew by 31 per cent. “Larger ports viz, Mundra, Hazira, Kattupalli and Dahej registered significant growth in overall cargo volumes. While Mundra, our mother port grew by 5 per cent, Hazira grew by 19 per cent and Kattupalli grew by 30 per cent,” the statement said. The Adani Group is one of India’s leading business houses with revenue of over USD 12 billion. Adani owns and operates nine ports and terminals in India. These are at Mundra, Dahej, Kandla and Hazira in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odissa, Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Kattupalli and Ennore in Chennai.
