NTPC Q1 earnings slipped 1% on higher spending

NTPC profit slide 1% upward spending

The state-owned power generation company NTPC slid 1.1% YoY to 1.1% in June due to higher finance and depreciation costs. Operating income increased 14% to Rs 22,703.6 million. NTPC's coal consumption increased by almost 17% to 43.1 MT during this period. The energy production giant spent Rs 1,241.9 crore on benefits, an increase of 16%, while financial costs rose 36% YoY to Rs 1219 crore, he said Saturday.

Depreciation and amortization costs also increased by 18.5% to Rs 1,860.2 crore. Although electricity generation revenues increased by 10.32 percent to Rs. 22,839.9 million during the quarter, revenues from "other income" decreased by 79 percent to Rs 136, 4 crore yoy. NTPC generated 69.2 billion electricity units during the quarter, recording an increase of 7.5%. The load factor of NTPC coal plants fell by one percentage point to 77.9%. However, the capacity utilization of NTPC plants remained well above the national average of 63.4%. The factory availability factor – an indicator of the production capacity available for commercial production – NTPC coal-fired plants fell by 3 percentage points to 85.9% year-over-year at the end of the first quarter

depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) during the quarter was 6,114.9 million crore, up 17.2% from the first quarter of the fiscal year18. The EBITDA margin increased by 60 basis points to 26.9%. The average electricity rate at which NTPC sold electricity during the quarter was 3.36 rupees per unit. The NTPC board of directors also approved the proposal to issue non convertible debentures to raise rupees of 12,000 rupees. Currently, more than 18.6 gigawatts (GW) of NTPC power projects are under construction. It plans to increase its installed capacity to 130 GW by 2030 from its current base of 53.7 GW. It signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Bihar during the quarter to add to its portfolio three other power plants, with a combined capacity of 3,470 MW. It plans to add 5 GW of capacity in FY 19.