OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2011. Essar Ports Limited (EPL), part of the Essar Group, today announced its results for the quarter ended 30th September 2011.

Results:

For the quarter ended 30th September 2011, Essar Ports' net profit increasedto Rs.40.84crore as against Rs 5.30 crore in Q2 FY11 of the standalone ports business, erstwhile ESPLL  net profitwasRs11crore in Q2FY11. For the half year ended 30th September, 2011, net profit increased to Rs 80.45 crore in FY12 as against Rs 8.81 crore of the standalone ports business in H1FY11, erstwhile ESPLL net profit was Rs 50.48 crore in H1FY11.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2011, Essar Ports’ revenue increased to Rs 279.14 crore as against Rs 178.96croreof the standalone ports business in Q2 FY11,registering an increase of 56%, erstwhile ESPLL revenue wasRs 813.35 crore in Q2FY11 which also had the contribution of Shipping, Oilfields and Logistics business. For the half year ended September 30, 2011, Revenue increased to Rs 557.62 crore as against Rs 351.92 crore of standalone port business in H1FY11 registering an increase of 58%, erstwhile ESPLL Revenue was Rs 1705.55 crore.

For the quarter ended 30th September, 2011, Essar Ports EBITDA increased to Rs230.72crore as against Rs133.70croreof the standalone ports business in Q2 FY11registering an increase of 72%, erstwhile ESPLL EBITDAwasRs296.99crore in Q2FY11 which also has contribution of Shipping, Oilfields and Logistics business.For half year ended September 30, 2011, EBITDA has increased to Rs 451.02 crore as against Rs 259.72 crore of standalone port business in H1FY11 registering an increase of 73%, erstwhile ESPLL EBITDA was Rs 634.88 crore.  EBTIDA margin for the half year has increased from 37% to 81% as ports business has higher EBITDA margin than Shipping and logistics business.

Speaking on the results, Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, Managing Director, Essar Ports Limited, said: “We are pleased by the excellent performance of  EPL resulting in significant  increase in Revenue, EBITDA and Profit. The performance reflects the company’s ability to generate higher per tonne revenue during the quarter. EPL   has also made considerable   progress in all the port projects that are under construction and development which  are expected to be commissioned by FY 2014. On completion, the port capacity will increase  from 88 MMTPA to 158 MMTPA”

Operational highlights:

In the second quarter Essar Ports saw an increase in the total volumes handled to 9.73 MMT from 9.63 MMT for the corresponding quarter last year. For Half year ended September 30, 2011, Cargo handled was 20.93 MMT as against 19.46 MMT in H1 FY11.

Vadinar Oil Terminal maintenance shutdown synchronised with Essar Oil refinery shutdown covering 13 days of the quarter. Vadinar handled 6.79 MMT cargo in Q2 FY12 as against 7.49 MMT for Q2 FY11, during H1FY12 cargo handled was 15.20 MMT as against 15.26 MMT cargo handled in H1FY11.

Hazira handled 2.94 MMT of cargo in Q2 FY12 as against 2.14 MMT for Q2 FY11, registering a jump of 37%. Billed volume for Essar Steel was 4.28 MMT as per the Take or Pay contract.During H1FY12, cargo handled increased to 5.74 MMT as against 4.20 MMT in H1FY11.

Third party cargo handling contributed 5% to the revenue of Hazira port facilities during H1FY12

Average realization per ton for the company improved to Rs233 in H1 FY12 from Rs 174 in H1 FY11

The EBTL Hazira channel continued operations through the monsoon months highlighting the all weather deep draft capabilities of the terminal

The terminal at Hazira received the ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management), ISO 14001:2004 (Health & Safety), and the OHSAS 18001:2007 (Environment) certifications. It also achieved zero Loss Time Injury (LTI) performance in its first year of operations. Terminal has handled 118 Deep Draft Vessels during the first half of FY-12  and handled more than 1 MMT  cargo in the month of September’11.

Progress on Other Projects:

Paradip

Two terminals at Paradip with combined capacity of 30 MMTPA comprises of iron ore berth of 16 MMTPA and a coal berth of 14 MMTPA.

Paradip I (CQ3) commissioning expected by end of FY12, 66% of the project is completed by September 2011

Basic and detailed engineering are completed

Ship loader is erected, stack yard development is under progress

Conveyor  erection is under progress

Salaya

The company is setting up a dry bulk terminal at Salaya with a capacity of 20 MMTPA.

Salaya port commissioning is expected in end of FY13-14, 42% of project is completed by September 2011

Ship un-loaders are delivered

1 Stacker cum reclaimer is erected and erection of 2 Stacker cum reclaimer are under progress

Jetty construction and conveyor erection are under progress

Environment and CRZ clearance are received. Forest clearance pending for part of the project