Adani Ports SEZ Q3 Profit Rises As Cargo Volumes Rebound

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.'s profit rose after two successive quarters of decline as cargo volumes rebounded.

Net profit in the three months ended December rose 18 percent to Rs 994 crore as compared to the same quarter last year, Adani Ports said in a stock exchange filing today. That's higher than the Rs 946 crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg. Profit grew despite a one-time loss of Rs 155.2 crore during the quarter.

The bottomline was aided by growth in overall cargo volumes at the company's larger ports. The largest Mundra port saw a 17 percent cargo volume expansion quarter-on-quarter, while for Hazira and Kattupalli, the growth stood at 9 percent and 45 percent, respectively, the company said in a press release accompanying the exchange filing.

Cumulative cargo volumes grew 11 percent higher than the previous quarter.

Revenue increased 22 percent to Rs 2,689 crore, on a yearly basis, beating the consensus estimate of Rs 2,209 crore. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 46 percent to Rs 1,967 crore, while the margin expanded to 66.4 percent from 64.01 percent.

Other Highlights:

• Container volumes grew 22 percent.
• Agri products grew by 30 percent, chemicals grew by 18 percent and minerals grew by 14 percent.

Shares of the company extended its decline and fell nearly 4.7 percent to Rs 415 apiece, which is the most this year so far, after the results were announced.