Adani Ports shares fall 5% as Q3 misses estimates on slower cargo volume growth

Adani Ports declared its third quarter earnings for the current fiscal on January 30.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Thursday reported a 14 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,520 crore for the quarter ended December 2024 amid a slower pace of growth in the company's cargo volumes.

The country’s largest private port operator missed the estimates according to a Bloomberg poll of analysts which projected a 17.3 percent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 2,589.4 crore.

The consolidated net profit of the company stood at Rs 2,208 crore in the quarter ended on December 31, 2023, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company's cargo volumes increased by 4 percent in the quarter under review, which was lower than the growth recorded in the previous two quarters at 10 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, and significantly below the 44 percent growth registered in the same quarter last year.

Shares Adani Ports reacted sharply to the fall in cargo volumes with the scrip falling 7.85 percent to a low of Rs 1,010.75 per share on the NSE.

Meanwhile, the revenue was better than the estimates which grew 15 percent to Rs 7,964 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal. Adani Ports had reported the revenue from operations of Rs 6920 crore in the same period a year ago. The topline was estimated to report a rise of 10.8 percent YoY to Rs 7,496.6 crore.

The Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) grew 15 percent at Rs 4,802 crore in the December quarter against Rs 4,185 crore in the December quarter of the previous year, while the EBITDA margin was reported at 60.3 percent against 60.5 percent year-on-year.

"We have upgraded our FY25 EBITDA forecast to Rs 18,800-18,900 crores. We achieved fantastic momentum during 9M FY25, driven by exceptional execution across 3 key areas of our business - market share gains coupled with volume-price mix increase, traction in logistics vertical, and operational efficiencies along with technology-led gains," said Mr. Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director & CEO, APSEZ.

Total income in the October-December 2024-25 period increased to Rs 8,187 crore, from Rs 7,427 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total expenses in the period under review increased marginally to Rs 5,191 crore, from Rs 4,588 crore in the year-ago quarter.

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