Adani Ports Q2 profit seen down 20%, operating margin may shrink to 57.2%

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone's second quarter consolidated profit is seen falling 20 percent year-on-year to Rs 879 crore. The bottomline could be hit by higher tax and lower margin.

Revenue for the quarter is likely to grow 14 percent to Rs 2,486 crore compared with Rs 2,183 crore in year-ago, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) is seen rising 10 percent to Rs 1,590 crore but margin may contract to 57.2 percent from 66.5 percent YoY.

Margin under pressure may be due to product mix.

Analysts said channel checks suggest that the cargo volumes were weak due to GST lead disruptions in Q2FY18.

Key things to watch out for would be change in volume guidance and impact of GST on volumes.

The stock price has been on an upmove since September-end, rising 60 percent in 2017.