JSW Infrastructure Q2 net profit rises 46% to Rs 373.73 crore, beats estimates

The increase in volume is primarily on the incremental volumes from the acquired assets and increased capacity utilisation at the Paradip Iron Ore and Coal Terminal in Odisha.

JSW Infrastructure on October 28 posted a nearly 46 percent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 373.73 crore during the September 2024 quarter, mainly driven by higher foreign exchange gains the company saw during the quarter.

"The group has designated highly probable foreign currency forecasted revenue as hedge item and foreign currency borrowing of equivalent amount as hedging instrument under cash flow hedge relationship," the company said as part of its earnings statement to the BSE.

JSW Infra saw gains worth Rs 155.11 crore from foreign currency changes during July-September much higher than the gains to Rs 4.5 crore seen in the same period last year.

The rise in foreign exchange gains led to the company reporting a near-6 percent fall in total expenses during the quarter, despite operating expenses rising nearly 26 percent. The company's total income rose to Rs 1,088.2 crore from Rs 895.48 crore in the year-ago period.

In a separate statement, the company said it handled cargo volumes of 27.5 million tonnes during the quarter, 16 percent higher than the volume handled during the same period last year. The volume increase was driven by the increased capacity utilisation at the coal terminals of Mangalore, Paradip, and Ennore and the contribution from the acquisitions (PNP and Liquid Storage Terminal, UAE).

"Notably, the increase in the third-party volume was even stronger with 48% year-on-year growth and the share of Third Party in the overall volumes stood at 46% vs 36% a year ago," the company said in a statement.

In the June quarter, the company acquired a majority stake of 70.37 percent in Navkar Corporation through its wholly-owned subsidiary JSW Port Logistics Pvt Ltd at an enterprise value of Rs 1,644 crore. Part of JSW Group, JSW Infrastructure is the second largest private commercial port operator in India.

Sequentially, the company’s net profit increased by 27.04 percent, though revenue declined marginally by 0.83 percent.

Additionally, during the quarter, the company emerged as the winning bidder for the development of a greenfield port at Murbe in Maharashtra. The cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 4,259 crore.

In September 2024, the company’s board approved a total capacity expansion plan of 36 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) (21 MTPA at Dharamtar and 15 MTPA at Jaigarh) with a total capital expenditure of Rs 2,359 crore. The company’s current cargo handling capacity stands at 170 MTPA, which it aims to expand to 400 MTPA by FY30.