APSEZ Q2 profit rises 72 pc to Rs 1,059 cr

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Monday posted 72.4 per cent increase in consolidated profit at Rs 1,059.20 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2019. The company had posted a profit of Rs 614.23 crore in the year-ago period, APSEZ said in a filing to the BSE.

Total income in the quarter under review increased to Rs 3,326.90 crore from Rs 2,922.32 crore in the year-ago period. "APSEZ continues to gain market share due to strategy of having multi commodity ports across key locations. Our market share in H1 FY'20 has increased by 100 basis points to 22 per cent of all India cargo volume and to 35 per cent of all India container volume," company's CEO and Whole Time Director Karan Adani said.

Though the September quarter was subdued, container volume continues to be strong, Adani said. The company expects second half of the fiscal to be better and is confident of achieving 224-228 MMT of cargo throughput in 2019-20, he said.

"With the recent cut in repo rate, corporate tax reduction and resolve of the government to accelerate economic growth, we expect economy to revive from Q1FY'21. "With our pan India presence and ability to handle all types of cargo at all our ports, we are best placed to capture the revival in Indian economy and are confident of achieving 10 to 12 per cent CAGR cargo volume growth for the next few years," he said.

Automation and use of technology to handle cargo, sweating of enhanced capacity and better cargo mix will continue to drive margin expansion, Adani said. "We believe sustainable development as a core value for our business future proofing. Protecting our environment, creating and maintaining safe operating environment and adopting best corporate practices will continue to be our focus areas," he added.

Ports across all the three regions registered strong growth. Dhamra, the eastern port of APSEZ, registered a growth of 46 per cent. Kattupalli, the southern port, posted a growth of 17 per cent.

The western port of Hazira grew seven per cent and Mundra grew by five per cent.