ESSAR PORTS
Formerly known as Essar Shipping and Logistics, the company posted a muted set of numbers for Q3Fy14, with net profit rising 4% (YoY) at Rs.94 crore on a 9% rise in revenue at Rs.399 crore. EBITDA increased by 10% to Rs 324.2 crore. Its bread winner, port and terminal services reported a 5% rise in revenue while its fleet operating and chartering business declined by a whopping 62%. Operating expenses rose 38% and finance cost was up 14%, with interest outgo for the Q3 quarter coming in at Rs.144 crore. Looking ahead, the company plans to change its revenue mix – third-party cargo contributes 5% to the revenue and the company wants to hike it to 25% over next 3 years.
Essar Ports currently has three operational port terminals at Hazira, Vadinar and Paradip, having a total capacity of 104 MTPA. The Hazira port is an all-weather, deep-draft port with 30MMTPA of dry bulk and break bulk cargo handling capacity. Vadinar is also an all-weather, deep-draft port with 58MMTPA of liquid cargo handling capacity. Paradip dry bulk terminal was commissioned in December 2012 and is an all-weather, deep-draft port with 16MMTPA of dry bulk cargo handling capacity. The company is currently developing one terminal at Paradip, which will be a coal berth of 14MMTPA. The company is also setting up a dry bulk terminal at Salaya with a capacity of 20MMTPA. Additionally, the company plans to expand its Hazira Port capacity by 20MMTPA, taking its capacity to 50MMTPA.
The company has stated that Paradip coal terminal construction is expected to start soon, as the Supreme Court has dismissed all the petitions filed by port users occupying the land during December 2013. The Paradip Port Trust has initiated action to vacate the land earmarked for the terminal. The company during Q3 signed an agreement with Vishakhapatnam Port Trust for a 23-MTPA project, to be developed over a period of three years. Essar Ports will take over the two outer harbor berths soon and the operation and upgradation of the terminal will be undertaken simultaneously.