Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd reported higher profit in its fiscal fourth quarter, driven by strong revenue growth, but the gain was tempered by increased operating expenses.
The electric utilities company posted stand-alone net profit of 20.05 billion Indian rupees, or 3.83 rupees per share, in the quarter that ended March 31, up from 19.16 billion rupees, or 3.66 rupees per share, in the same period last year.
Excluding movement in Regulatory Deferral Account Balances, earnings per equity share came in at 3.53 rupees, up from 3.50 rupees. S&P Capital IQ's consensus normalized EPS estimate was 4.07 rupees, with five analysts reporting.
Revenue from operations surged to 78.11 billion rupees from 67.06 billion rupees, boosted by the company's transmission business, which posted revenue of 75.19 billion rupees, up from 66.49 billion rupees.
Total expenses rose to 56.99 billion rupees from 47.08 billion rupees, driven by what the company described simply as "other expenses" which jumped to 8.15 billion rupees from 5.51 billion rupees.
In full-year terms, stand-alone net profit for the year that ended March 31 stood at 82.39 billion rupees, or 15.75 rupees per share, up from 75.20 billion rupees, or 14.37 rupees per share, in the previous year.
As of May 28, US$1 was equivalent to 67.84 Indian rupees.
