APSEZ domestic cargo volumes grew by 21 per cent Y-o-Y in FY24.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) today reported a 76.87 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,014.77 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2024.
The country's largest integrated logistics player had clocked a profit of Rs 1,139.07 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a BSE filing.
Its consolidated total income increased to Rs 7,199.94 crore for the fourth quarter of the FY24 against Rs 6,178.35 crore in the year-ago period.
The total expense also rose to Rs 4,450.52 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 3,995 crore a year ago.
APSEZ FY24 net profit jumped 50 per cent Rs 8,103.99 crore. APSEZ whole-time director & CEO Ashwani Gupta said, "APSEZ outperformed its upper end of guidance provided at the beginning of the financial year on cargo, revenue, and EBITDA by 6-8 per cent, while closing the year with net debt to EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) ratio of 2.3x vs its guidance of 2.5x.
The company's business model of end-to-end service, strategic partnership with key customers, leveraging the network effect through its string of ports, and focus on operational efficiencies is yielding results, Gupta added.
Mr Gupta said that with incremental cargo volumes of 100 million metric tonnes (MMT) achieved in less than two years, APSEZ is well poised to achieve 500 MMT of cargo volumes in 2025, aided by the recently acquired Gopalpur Port, and the scheduled commissioning of Vizhinjam Port (Kerala) in the current year and WCT next year. The total count of ports in the India portfolio increases to 15.
In a statement, the company said that in FY24, APSEZ handled 27 per cent of the country's total cargo and 44 per cent of the container cargo.
APSEZ domestic cargo volumes grew by 21 per cent Y-o-Y in FY24.
Even after excluding the two newly added ports (Haifa – January 23 & Karaikal– Mar'23), APSEZ said it recorded an 18 per cent Y-o-Y growth in cargo volumes.
With cargo volumes of 180 MMT ( 16 per cent Y-o-Y) in FY24, flagship port, Mundra, is well placed to cross the 200 MMT mark in FY25, APSEZ said.
The company said it completed loan pre-payments/repayments of Rs 5,584 crore, exceeding the initial guidance of Rs 5,000 crore provided at the start of the year.
"Net debt to EBITDA improves to 2.3x from 3.1x in FY23, despite a capex of Rs 7,416 crore," it added. For FY24, APSEZ said its board has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per share, in line with our capital allocation policy.
This implies a payout of around Rs 1,300 crore for the company, it added.
According to the company statement, the cargo volumes of APSEZ during the period will be in 460-480 MMT range.
"Revenue for the period FY 25 to be Rs 29,000-31,000 crore, while capex for the period to be in the range of Rs 10,500-11,500 crore," it added.
APSEZ, a part of the globally diversified Adani Group, is the largest port developer and operator in India.
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