NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, FEB 9
Torrent Power on Tuesday reported an over 23 percent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 321.73 crore for the December quarter, mainly due to a one-off gain in the year-ago period.
The consolidated net profit of the company stood at Rs 420.62 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2019, it said in a regulatory filing.
Total income declined to Rs 2,990.11 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 3,115.48 crore in the same period a year ago.
The board of directors at their meeting on Tuesday approved an interim dividend of Rs 5.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each fully paid up for 2020-21, the filing said.
The aggregate amount of interim dividend to be distributed is Rs 264.34 crore.
The company attributed the dip in the bottom line to a one-off tax gain recognised in Q3 FY20 on account of a reduction in MAT (minimum alternate tax) rate.
It added that economic revival in the post-lockdown period has resulted in an increase in demand for electricity in Torrent’s distribution areas and demand has almost reached the previous year”s levels in all the distribution areas.
The company enjoys a strong balance sheet position with some of the best financial ratios amongst private players in the power sector, it said.
Its debt-to-equity ratio stood at 0.79 as on December 31, 2020. Net debt to EBITDA ratio was 2.18 for FY 2019-20, it added.
The firm said it is well poised to participate in the new opportunities coming up in the sector in renewable generation, transmission, and privatisation of state-owned distribution circles.
Torrent Power, the Rs 13,641 crore integrated power utility of the Rs 21,500 crore Torrent Group, is one of the largest companies in the country’s power sector with a presence across the entire power value chain – generation, transmission, and distribution.
The company has an aggregate installed generation capacity of 3,879 MW, comprising 2,730 MW of gas-based capacity, 787 MW renewable, and 362 MW of coal-based capacity.
The company distributes nearly 16.66 billion units to over 3.65 million customers in the cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Dahej SEZ, and Dholera SIR in Gujarat; Bhiwandi, Shil, Mumbra, and Kalwa in Maharashtra and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
