Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on Tuesday reported a 31.57 percent increase in its consolidated profit to Rs 1,393.69 crore for the second quarter ended on September 30, 2020. The country's largest integrated logistics player had clocked a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,059.20 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier, the company said in a BSE filing. Its total consolidated income increased to Rs 3,423.16 crore for the second quarter as against Rs 3,326.90 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's total expenses during the quarter under review declined to Rs 1,622.78 crore compared to Rs 2,440.56 crore in the year-ago period.

Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of APSEZ said, "APSEZ has proven the utility nature of its portfolio of assets by increasing the market share in India to 24 percent in overall cargo. With economy reopening in stages, APSEZ has returned to growth trajectory registering a cargo volume growth of 36 percent on a Q-o-Q basis. Port EBIDTA improves to 71 percent on account of continuous focus on operational efficiency."

"Our focus continues to be on preserving cash and ensuring adequate liquidity. We continue to increase our free cash generation, in H1 FY21 cash flow from operations after adjusting for working capital changes, capex and net interest cost, stands at Rs 2,884 cr."

Adani said APSEZ is well on course to achieve 500 million tonne (MT) of cargo throughput by FY2025 and added "our focus remains on improving the free cash generation and ROCE of all our ports to be in excess of 16 percent."

Adani said the company's businesses and future investments are aligned to sustainable growth with focus on preserving the environment and added that APSEZ is committed to reduce carbon emission and become carbon neutral by 2025.

"We expect cargo volume in full-year FY21 to be in the range of 245 to 250 MMT including KPCL, which we acquired in October 20, he said. The company said in the first half of the current fiscal free cash flow from operations after adjusting for working capital changes, capex and net interest cost was Rs 2,884 crore against Rs 1,002 crore in the first half of FY2020.

"The said free cash flow is expected to be in the range of Rs 5,500- Rs6,100 cr in the full year of FY21. Our net debt to EBIDTA for H1 FY21 is at 3.44x, this is on account of new debt of USD 750 mn raised for refinancing debt at KPCL level. We expect the ratio to come down within our targeted range of 3x to 3.5x by FY22," the statement said.

With the easing of lockdown and revival of the economy, cargo throughput at APSEZ rebounded and registered a spectacular growth, the company said and added the growth was across segments and coasts.

It said in October its ports excluding Krishnapatnam Port (KPCL) handled cargo volume of 22 MT which is a growth of 21 percent on a year-on-year basis.

KPCL the newest port in its portfolio handled cargo volume of 3.2 MT.

"For FY21, we expect cargo throughput excluding Krishnapatnam Port to be in the range of 225-230 MT. In addition, Krishnapatnam Port is expected to handle around 20 MMT in H2 FY21," it said.

The company said on the back of rebound in economic activities, cargo volume bounced back and registered "phenomenal growth of 36% on a Q o Q basis and 7% on a Y o Y basis. All segments of cargo registered growth on a Q o Q basis. While coal registered 30% growth, container grew by 34%, crude by 52% and other bulk cargo registered a growth of 40%," the statement said.

Non-Mundra ports registered a growth of 28 percent, while Mundra port grew by 40 percent, it said adding, cargo volume at Hazira grew by 45 percent, Kattupalli by 54 percent and Dahej by 145 percent.

"Dhamra our eastern gateway port continues to register double-digit growth. Cargo volume at Dhamra increased by 30 percent on Q o Q basis and 21% on Y o Y basis. LNG and LPG which was added as part of our diversified cargo portfolio in October 2019 gained traction. In Q2 FY21, Mundra Port handled 1,42,000 T of LPG and 5,17,000 T LNG," it said.

Adani Logistics operates 60 rakes and continues to be the largest private rail operator in India and handled rail volume of 69,061 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) in Q2 of FY21, it added.

APSEZ, a part of Adani Group is the largest port developer and operator in India with 12 strategically located ports and terminals Mundra, Dahej, Kandla and Hazira in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odisha, Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Kattupalli and Ennore in Chennai and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh that represent 24 percent of the country's total port capacity.

The company is also developing a transshipment port at Vizhinjam, Kerala and a container terminal at Myanmar.

Read all earnings here.