BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Tata Power reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong energy demand amid heatwaves and growing economic activity in the country.
The company reported a consolidated net profit of 8.95 billion rupees ($107.2 million), up around 15% from last year.
Analysts had said energy firms such as Tata Power, NTPC and Power Grid would likely announce consistent fourth-quarter earnings as the sector stood to gain from increasing thermal and renewable energy capacity.
Searing heatwaves and an uptick in economic activity have resulted in India’s electricity generation growing at an average of about 8% annually following the pandemic year of 2020/21, outpacing power demand growth in every major global economy.
The company’s transmission and distribution segment, which brings in the lion’s share of revenue, grew 8.80% to 90.25 billion rupees, while its generation segment clocked in a growth of 68%.
Overall revenue from operations climbed 27% to 158.47 billion rupees. The company also recommended a final dividend of 2 rupees per share for the financial year 2024.
Its total expenses rose about 24% to 156.91 billion rupees, led mainly by a near two-fold surge in fuel costs.
Shares of Tata Power closed lower at 0.3% on Wednesday ahead of results. The stock has climbed about 18% in the reporting quarter, outperforming a 16.6% rise in the Nifty Energy index.
($1 = 83.4941 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
