CESC Q4 profit dips 6.8% on higher tax despite rise in demand, revenue

India's CESC, a power generation and distribution company, reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by a jump in tax expenses amid higher power demand.
The company's consolidated net profit fell 6.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 373 crore ($43.6 million) for the three months ended March 31.
CESC's total tax expenses jumped to Rs 810 lakh from Rs 400 lakh a year ago. The company's profit before tax rose 11.2 per cent.
Revenue from operations climbed 14.5 per cent to Rs 3,877 crore. Power demand increased steadily during the January-March period as above-normal temperatures led to higher electricity usage.
Analysts at Elara Capital had expected a boost to CESC's fourth-quarter revenue due to increased power generation and reduced distribution losses. The company's distribution segment likely benefited from lower aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, the brokerage added.
AT&C losses are a combination of energy losses, including due to theft and billing inefficiency, as well as commercial losses, which include payment defaults and collection inefficiency.
Peer Tata Power reported a surge in fourth-quarter profit driven by strong power demand, while Torrent Power's profit more than doubled on lower costs.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

New Indian Express

an hour ago

• New Indian Express

Pineapple price hike turns bitter for Kerala's Vazhakulam farmers

KOCHI: Despite prices hitting a record high, the pineapple farmers of Vazhakulam are depressed as there has been a steep decline in production. The arrival of rain did not hamper the demand in the north Indian market, but the pineapple market in Vazhakulam is unable to provide even half the required quantity of fruits. The slump in production has led to a spike in prices and it hit a record high of Rs 62 per kg last week. On Thursday, the price stood at Rs 55 per kg. 'Normally, the Vazhakulam market sends around 1,500 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes of pineapple to various states a day. However, now, the daily business has declined to 700 tonnes a day. As the summer was harsh last year, the farmers had taken precautions to delay the flowering of plants to avoid total loss. The fruit normally ripens around 120 days after flowering. The production is expected to return to normal in another 30 days. Though there will be a decline in demand after the onset of monsoon, the demand will rise again by August,' said All Kerala Pineapple Farmers Association president James George. Meanwhile, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has initiated steps to help the farmers export pineapple by sea. As the air freight charge is unaffordable, the farmers are facing difficulty in finding new markets. Though there is demand for the sweet and juicy Vazhakulam pineapple in West Asia and Europe, the high freight charge is posing a challenge. The pineapple research station in Vazhakulam has developed a sea shipment protocol and the field trials are expected to start soon. However, Manna Pineapples, a private firm in Vazhakulam, has shipped six consignments of pineapple to Dubai this year. The consignments of 16 tonnes each are sent in reefer containers, maintaining ambient temperature.

New Indian Express

an hour ago

• New Indian Express

Plan for toll booths on Western Ring Road in Coimbatore sparks public outrage

COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu State Highways Department's and Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority's (TANSHA) plan to set up toll booths along the under-construction Western Ring Road in Coimbatore has stirred public anger, with industrialists, social activists, and residents condemning the move. The 32.43-kilomere-long Western Ring Road, designed to ease city traffic by diverting heavy vehicle flow around Coimbatore, is being implemented in three phases. Phase 1 of the project, stretching 11.80 km from Mykal to Madampatti and passing through areas like Madukkarai, Sundakkamuthur, Perur Chettipalayam, and Theethipalayam, is nearing completion. Work on this stretch, launched in August 2023 at a cost of Rs 250 crore, is expected to finish by September this year. However, even before the completion of the first phase, officials of the Tamil Nadu State Highways Department have reportedly been planning to install toll plazas. This decision has come under fire, especially as the State Government has been advocating for the removal of toll plazas on national highways in Tamil Nadu, a stand now seen as contradictory. "The government cannot have double standards. On one side, they oppose tolls on national highways, but here they are trying to toll a state road built using public money," said R Selvaraj, a local trader in Madampatti. "This road is meant to decongest our city, not to burden us with fees." The Western Ring Road project traverses 15 revenue villages in the district, eventually connecting Mylkal on the Salem-Cochin Road (SHU 52) to Narasimhanaickenpalayam on the Nagapattinam-Gudalur-Mysore Road (NH 67). The second phase, covering 12.10 km from Madampatti to Somayampalayam, via Vadavalli, is estimated to cost Rs 348 crore, with tender processes set to begin after fund allocation. The third and final phase, spanning 8.09 km, will pass through Pannimadai, Nanjundapuram, Kurudampalayam, and Gudalur.

News18

an hour ago

• News18

Did ICICI Bank Try To Acquire HDFC? What Deepak Parekh Reveals

Last Updated: 'I remember you talking to me said ICICI started HDFC. 'Why don't you come back home?' That was your offer,' Parekh said in interaction with Ex-ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar. ICICI Bank once tried to merge housing finance firm HDFC with itself before its reverse merger with its own banking arm, HDFC Bank former chairman Deepak Parekh has revealed. In a YouTube video, Parekh, in an interaction with ICICI Bank former MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar, said, 'I remember you talking to me once…you said that ICICI started HDFC. 'Why don't you come back home?' That was your offer." However, Parekh said he declined the offer, saying 'it won't be fair or proper with our name and the bank and all". He also said the HDFC Bank-HDFC reverse merger, which was completed in July 2023, was primarily driven by regulatory pressure. 'The RBI supported us and they pushed us into it to some extent and they helped us…there were no concessions, no relief, no time, nothing but they helped us to go through the process and get the approval," Parekh said. On the reverse merger, Parekh called it 'a sad day and a happy day". He added, 'It's good for the institution. It's good for the country to have large banks. Look at how large Chinese banks are. We have to be bigger, larger in India." Describing the merger as good for the institution, he said, it is good for the country to have large banks. Indian banks must grow through acquisitions to become stronger in future, he added. HDFC Ltd, the parent entity of HDFC Bank, merged with its banking subsidiary to create the country's biggest private sector lender. The merger became effective from July 1, 2023. With the reverse merger, the 44-year-old institution HDFC Ltd faded into memory lane. Interestingly, the creation of HDFC Ltd was financially supported by erstwhile ICICI Ltd, the parent entity of ICICI Bank. The Reserve Bank of India had classified large NBFCs like HDFC, which then held assets exceeding Rs 5 lakh crore, as systemically important — well above the Rs 50,000-crore threshold. (With Inputs from PTI) First Published: