India's largest power generation company NTPC is expected to report a profit after tax at Rs 1,912 crore during September quarter, down 23.3 percent (down 13.1 percent quarter-on-quarter) compared to Rs 2,493 crore in the year-ago period, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.
Net sales may rise 6.4 percent (down 4.3 percent sequentially) to Rs 17,310 crore from Rs 16,272 crore during the same period. Operating profit (EBITDA) may fall 9.9 percent on yearly basis (up 13.2 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs 3,701 crore and margin may decline 390 basis points (up 330 basis points Q-o-Q) to 21.4 percent in the quarter gone by.
Given a seasonally weak quarter, analysts expect plant load factor (PLF) to decline and realisations to be impacted by lower incentives.
PLF is seen at around 72 percent for coal fired stations (as against 84 percent in Q1FY15) while units sold are down 13 percent Q-o-Q in the monsoon season.
Gas based generation is expected to grow by 8 percent Y-o-Y to 3 billion units.
Key issues to watch out for are:
PLFs for coal based projects and generation loss
Development on regulations and the subsequent impact
NTPC is scouting for inorganic growth opportunities. CNBC-TV18's sources said the board has constituted a committee to explore such opportunities.
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