APSEZ attains new operational and financial highs in FY24
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has announced its results for the quarter and twelve months ending March 31, 2024.
Highlights:
* Volume grew 24% Y-o-Y to 420 MMT
* Revenue grew by 28% Y-o-Y to reach record high of Rs 26,711 crore
* EBITDA jumps 44% Y-o-Y to Rs 15,751 crore
* PAT increased by 50% Y-o-Y to Rs 8,104 crore
* Net Debt to EBITDA for FY24 at 2.3x vs 3.1x in FY23
* Acquires Gopalpur Port and Karaikal Port to drive growth and improve east-west
* S&P Global ratings upgraded the outlook of APSEZ to Stable from Negative
“FY24 has been a year of many new milestones for APSEZ on both operational and financial metrics. APSEZ outperformed its upper end of guidance provided at the beginning of the financial year on cargo, revenue and EBITDA by 6%-8%, while closing the year with net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.3x vs its guidance of 2.5x. Clearly, the company’s business model of end-to-end service, strategic partnership with key customers, leveraging the network effect through its string of ports, and focus on operational efficiencies is yielding results,” said Mr Ashwani Gupta, Whole-Time Director & CEO, APSEZ.
“With incremental cargo volumes of 100 MMT achieved in less than two years, APSEZ is well poised to achieve 500 MMT of cargo volumes in 2025, aided by recently acquired Gopalpur Port, and the scheduled commissioning of Vizhinjam Port in the current year and WCT next year. We continue to invest heavily in the business to drive growth, particularly in the logistics segment. Our newly launched trucking segment enables APSEZ to provide the last-mile connectivity solution to its customers. Our efforts towards sustainable business growth are well recognised in the top decile ESG rating from four global rating agencies,” added Mr Gupta.
Operational Highlights
* In FY24, APSEZ handled ~27% of the country’s total cargo and ~44% of container cargo.
* APSEZ domestic cargo volumes grew by 21% Y-o-Y vs 7.5% growth in India’s cargo volumes in FY24.
* Even after excluding the two newly added ports (Haifa – Jan.’23 & Karaikal – Mar.’23), APSEZ recorded an 18% Y-o-Y growth in cargo volumes.
* With cargo volumes of 180 MMT (+16% Y-o-Y) in FY24, its flagship port, Mundra, is well placed to cross 200 MMT mark in FY25.
* Mundra Port handled 7.4 mn TEUs during the year, 15% higher than its nearest competitor.
* Ten of its ports from the India portfolio recorded their lifetime high cargo volumes for the year.
* AICTPL (CT-3) terminal in Mundra delivered the highest ever annual container cargo volumes at any terminal in India.
* Mundra Port berthed one of the largest container ships ever – MV MSC Hamburg (399 m long x 54 m wide) – with capacity of 15,908 TEUs.
* Recorded its highest ever quarterly volumes at ~109 MMT in Q4 FY24.
* Highest-ever container rail (+19%) and bulk (+40%) volumes in FY24.
Financial Highlights
* Revenue growth of 28% Y-o-Y to Rs 26,711 crore in FY24, supported by 30% jump in ports business revenue and 19% in logistics business.
* EBITDA (excl. forex) jumped 24% Y-o-Y to Rs 15,864 crore, with Rs 15,246 crore contributed by ports business and Rs 540 crore by logistics business.
* Domestic port EBITDA margin expanded by ~150 bps with better sweating of assets (capacity utilisation of 67% in FY24 vs 56% in FY23).
* Record PAT of Rs 8,104 crore (+50% Y-o-Y), despite a write-off of Rs 455 crore resulting from the switch to the new tax regime for one of its subsidiaries.
* Completed loan pre-payments/repayments of Rs 5,584 crore, exceeding the initial guidance of Rs 5,000 crore provided at the start of the year.
* Net debt to EBITDA improves to 2.3x from 3.1x in FY23, despite a capex of Rs 7,416 crore.
* For FY24, the APSEZ Board has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per share, in line with its capital allocation policy. This implies a payout of around Rs 1,300 crore for the company.
* CARE Ratings assigned ‘AAA’ (the highest possible credit rating in India) to APSEZ, making company the first private corporate infrastructure developer to be rated AAA.
* S&P and ICRA upgraded company outlook from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’ during the year.
Business Highlights
* With acquisition of Gopalpur and Karaikal ports, the total count of ports in the India portfolio increases to 15.
* Entered into strategic partnership with MSC by forming a JV for Ennore Container Terminal.
*Colombo terminal received financing commitment of USD 553 mn from DFC.
* With its marine services business segment winning contracts in Sri Lanka, Mexico and Oman, the total count of tugs now stands at 111.
* ALL added 34 rakes during the year, taking the total count to 127 rakes.
* Total count of logistics parks reached 12 with addition of 3 MMLPs (Virochannagar, Loni, Valvada).
* Total agri silo capacity increased to 1.2 MMT with addition of 2 agri silos (Samastipur and Darbhanga).
* With commissioning of warehouses in Mumbai and Indore, the total warehousing capacity now stands at 2.4 mn sq. ft.
* Launched trucking business segment during the year, with 900 trucks, to provide last mile connectivity to the customers from ports/ICDs/customer premises.
Guidance for FY2025
* Cargo volumes during the period to be 460-480 MMT.
* Revenue for the period to be Rs 29,000-31,000 crore.
* EBIDTA for the period to be Rs 17,000-18,000 crore.
* Net Debt to EBITDA to be 2.2-2.5x.
* Capex for the period to be in the range of Rs 10,500-11,500 crore.
Source: Exim News Service: Ahmedabad, May 5