Power Grid Q3 profit drops as core segment earnings decline; revenue inches up

Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), the country’s largest power transmission company, disappointed with a lower net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 even though revenue growth was in line with street estimates.

State-controlled PGCIL reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,293 crore, down 2.2% from Rs 3,368 crore in the year-ago period.

Net profit declined 2.5% on a sequential basis from Rs 3,376 crore in the second quarter.

The company’s consolidated revenue stood at Rs 10,447 crore, up 3% from Rs 10,142 crore in the year-ago quarter. On a sequential basis, revenue rose 1.8%.

Analysts were expecting the company to come up with single-digit growth in both revenue as well as profit. While revenue growth managed to meet the lower end of the street expectations, the profit drop came as a disappointment.

However, the company retained its operating margin at 90%.

The cash-rich company. whose share price has risen 30% in the last one year, declared an interim dividend of Rs 5.5 a share.

Segment Performance

Revenue from the mainstay transmission business rose around 2% while that from the consultancy unit shot up over 40% compared with the year-ago period.

The telecom segment revenue was, however, weak. It declined both compared to the same period last year as also sequentially from Q2.

On the flip side, profit from the transmission business lagged and resulted in overall poor performance. Profit from the consultancy unit, however, rose year-on-year but was soft compared with the Q2 level. Profit from the telecom unit declined both sequentially and compared with a year earlier.

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