Coal news and updates

Power sector may report healthy Q2 numbers

October 30: Indian power utilities are expected to report healthy profit figures for the second quarter (Q2) of the current fiscal (FY14), although the recent depreciation in the rupee nullified the advantage of lower imported coal prices, an analysts' report said.

"We expect utility companies in our coverage to report aggregate Q2 FY14 revenue growth of 5.2% y-o-y and PAT growth of 8.4% y-o-y," the India Strategy report by Motilal Oswal said.

PAT growth would mainly be led by JSW Energy (55.4% on lower base), and PSUs NTPC, PGCIL and NHPC which may grow by 17.5%, 12.5% and 16.3%, respectively, led by benefits coming from new capacity additions.

However, Tata Power is expected to see a decline in PAT due to lower contribution from its mining business, while PTC India's PAT is expected to be lower due to tolling arrangement conversion to trading, the report added.

About imported coal prices, it said the rupee's depreciation versus the dollar had nullified the advantage of soft imported coal prices during the quarter. Imported coal prices' average during the quarter stood at $73/ton versus $88/ton during the same quarter last year, it said.