ESSAR PORTS

The performance of the company for Q2FY16 was stable, no fireworks or untoward surprises. Its revenue for the quarter came in at Rs.470  crore, up 8% (YoY) and up 4% (QoQ). EBITDA showed a 5% (YoY) and up 4% (QoQ) at Rs.379 crore while net profit for the quarter was at Rs.104 crore, up 9% (YoY) and up 5% sequentially. Billed traffic for the quarter rose 17% at 20.64 MMT. Debt currently stands at Rs.6144 crore, up 8% (YoY).

The bigger news in the company more than the performance is its ongoing delisting offer. Starting 30th Oct, the company has fixed the delisting floor price at Rs.93.66 for acquiring 10.72 crore shares (or 25.06%) from public shareholders. The promoter group collectively holds 74.94% of the total share capital of Essar Ports. The delisting offer closes today, 5th Nov. If this goes through then this might be the last quarterly performance analysis of Essar Ports. The company said the delisting is being done to achieve complete operational/ financial flexibility in furtherance of its goals.

Essar Ports has four operational port terminals at Hazira, Vadinar, Paradip and Vizag Iron Ore. It is also setting up a dry bulk terminal at Salaya with a capacity of 20 MMTPA. Additionally, the Company plans to expand its Hazira port capacity by 20 MMTPA – taking Hazira capacity to 50 MMTPA. The company is also undertaking capacity addition of iron ore berths at Visakhapatnam Port with a total capacity of 16 MMTPA and developing a coal terminal at Paradip of 18 MMTPA capacity.