Essar Ports Ltd – Q1 FY14 Net Profit up 48 per cent to Rs 101.4 cr

Essar Ports Ltd. (Essar Ports), part of the Essar Group, today announced its unaudited results for the quarter ended June 2013.

Highlights of Consolidated Results:

• Net Profit for Q1 FY14 increased by 48% to Rs. 101.4 crore from Rs. 68.5 crore in Q1 FY13.
• Revenue for Q1 FY14 increased by 22% to Rs.403.7 crore from Rs. 330.3 crore in Q1 FY13.
• EBITDA for Q1 FY14 increased by 21% to Rs. 327.9 crore from Rs. 271.3 crore in Q1 FY13.
• Earnings per Share for Q1 FY14 were at Rs. 2.37 as against Rs. 1.65 for Q1 FY13.
• 14.08 million tonnes of cargo handled during the quarter as against 12.65 million tonnes of cargo handled during Q1 FY 13 registering a growth of 11%

Other Highlights:

• Essar Ports has won the bid for the development of three iron ore berths with a combined capacity of 23 MMTPA at Visakhapatnam Port for 30 years
• Industry stalwarts Mr Michael Pinto, Dr Jose Paul and Mr NC Singhal join the Essar Ports Board as Independent Directors. Company intends to make the board more effective and broad based with these Independent Directors of emminence.

Speaking on the key highlights for the year, Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, Managing Director, Essar Ports Ltd. said: “Our performance has been exceeding the expectations for the past 2 years and we are confident of delivering good results in the coming quarters. Our third party terminals of Paradip and Vizag will bring us a good customer mix. We have further strengthened our Board with professionals which will help bring about stronger corporate governance, and guide us in the Company's growth.”

Operational highlights for the quarter:

Operations on track:

• 14.08 million tonnes of cargo handled during the quarter as against 12.65 million tonnes of cargo handled during Q1 FY 13 registering a growth of 11%
• Essar Ports has won the bid for the development of three iron ore berths at Visakhapatnam Port for 30 years.
• The three berths have a combined capacity of 23 MMTPA. Two of the berths are in operational condition and will contribute to our revenues post signing of concession agreement. The port handled 12 MMT of iron ore in FY13.
• During the quarter, Vadinar received certificate of Appreciation from Gujarat Safety Council for achieving Accident Free 1 Million Man Hours

Reconstitution of the Board:

The company has reconstituted its Board of Directors by adding three industry stalwarts, Mr Michael Pinto, Dr Jose Paul, and Dr N C Singhal as independent directors. With the induction of these eminent professionals global standards of corporate governance will be set. It will create a strong heritage of a professional run, and board managed company in India.

Mr Michael Pinto (IAS, retired) is a former Secretary (Shipping) Govt. of India and former Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Dr Jose Paul is the former Chairman of Murmogao Port Trust and former acting Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Mr NC Singhal is the founder of the erstwhile Shipping Credit & Investment Company of India Ltd (SICICI).

The board now has an ideal mix of competencies in the fields of port and maritime industry, governance, finance, strategy and risk management that will add enormous value and give a new direction to the company. All the directors on our board have individually and collectively the expertise and experience to guide the management in transforming the organization into to a truly world class global corporation.

About Essar Ports

Essar Ports Ltd. is one of the largest port companies of India, with a current capacity of 104 MMTPA. The capacity is being expanded to 181 MMTPA over the next few years.

Essar Ports has three operational terminals at Hazira, Vadinar and Paradip. The Hazira port is an all-weather, deep-draft port with 30 MMTPA of dry bulk and break bulk cargo handling capacity. Vadinar is also an all-weather, deep-draft port with 58 MMTPA of liquid cargo handling capacity. Paradip dry bulk terminal was commissioned in December 2012 and is an all-weather, deep-draft port with 16 MMTPA of dry bulk cargo handling capacity.

Essar Ports is currently developing one terminal at Paradip which will be a coal berth of 14 MMTPA. The Company 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 û taking its capacity to 50 MMTPA. Essar Ports has won the bid for the development of three iron ore berths totaling 23 MMTPA at Visakhapatnam Port.