Edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) on Wednesday reported a 16.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs 246.2 crore for the third quarter that ended December 31, 2022, on strong volume growth.

In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 211.4 crore. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 15,438.1 crore during the period under review, up 7.4 percent against Rs 14,370.9 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 20.2 percent to Rs 605.3 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal over Rs 503.6 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

Also Read: Banks did not lend to Adani based on share value, says India's regulator

EBITDA margin stood at 3.9 percent in the reporting quarter as compared to 3.5 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

Angshu Mallick, managing director, and chief executive officer of Adani Wilmar, said in Q3, the standalone volume grew by 17 percent to 1.41 million MT, leading to EBITDA growth of 23 percent and PAT growth of 15 percent.

For the quarter, the company recorded consolidated revenue of Rs 15,438 crore and on a standalone basis, registered revenue of Rs 14,714 crore, EBITDA of Rs 623 crore, and PAT of Rs 277 crore in Q3, he added.

Also Read: Banks' exposure to Adani Group not large enough to affect credit quality: Report

In the third quarter, Adani Wilmar recorded 16 percent volume growth and 7 percent revenue growth. For the third quarter, on a standalone basis, gross profit per tonne improved by 7 percent, resulting in absolute gross profit growth of 25 percent YoY, on the back of 17 percent YoY volume growth. Accordingly, EBITDA also grew by 23 percent YoY.

The increase in the benchmark rates during the year also increased the interest cost for the quarter and 9 months, resulting in lower PBT per tonne in comparison to EBITDA per tonne.

At the time of IPO, the company identified capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 2,220 crore, to be spent over the next 3 years, primarily towards the expansion of food capacities across multiple locations.

Also Read: Adani Enterprises calls off its Rs 20,000 crore FPO

The funding for this capex is tied up with a mix of IPO proceeds of Rs 1,900 crore and the remaining shall be funded from internal accruals, the company said.

Shares of most of the Adani Group companies ended higher today, with the flagship company Adani Enterprises rallying nearly 20 percent. Seven of the group companies ended in the positive territory while three settled in the red on Wednesday.

The US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research came out with its adverse report about Adani Group on January 24. On Wednesday, shares of Adani Enterprises rallied nearly 23 percent to Rs 2,163, also its upper price band on the BSE. It later ended at Rs 2,158.65 per share, up by 19.76 percent. The flagship company's market valuation rose from Rs 40,601.14 crore to Rs 2.46 lakh crore.

Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone zoomed 8.34 percent to end at Rs 599.45. The company's market valuation rose Rs 9,969.04 crore to Rs 1.29 lakh crore. Adani Power closed at Rs 182, Adani Transmission at Rs 1,314.25, NDTV at Rs 227.75, and Adani Wilmar at Rs 419.35 per share.

These firms settled with 5 percent gains and their closing levels touched the respective upper price bands on the BSE. Besides, Ambuja Cements rose 0.17 percent to close at Rs 384.35.

First Published:Feb 8, 2023 4:10 PM IST