Reliance Power?s third quarter profit beat analyst expectations as it reduced its expenses on power and fuel by more than 11%. The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company reported Q3 FY14 net profit of R267.22 crore, against analyst estimates of R248 crore, according to a Bloomberg poll.
The company?s net sales fell 6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to R372.61 crore. Net profit rose 0.5% y-o-y to R267.22 crore. For the quarter ended December, Reliance Power incurred R806.78 crore as power and fuel expenses, compared with R908.43 in the third quarter of FY13.
The company, which does not have a CEO at its helm since the exit of JP Chalasani in December, said income from the power generation segment was R1,372.61 crore, a fall of 6.2% y-o-y but rose nearly 4%, sequentially.
The company?s thermal power plant located in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh ? the 1,200 MW Rosa plant ? had a plant load factor (PLF) of 84% during the quarter. Its 40 MW solar plant located in Rajasthan had a PLF of 20% while its 45 MW wind project at Vashpet in Maharashtra operated at a PLF of 12%.
The power generation company said its 600 MW coal-fired project at Butibori in Maharashtra received tariff approval from the Maharashtra Regulatory Commission (MERC) for sale of power from its entire capacity of 600 MW to Reliance Infrastructure Limited, on cost plus basis, for a of 25 years.
Reliance Power said its third 660 MW unit at Sasan ultra mega power plant is at an advanced stage of construction and expected to be commissioned in fourth quarter. ?The balanced units are also expected to be commissioned in the coming months,? it said.
The company, which has an operating portfolio of 3,205 MW said its Dhursar solar power project in Rajasthan is expected to be commissioned by March 2014.
