Suzlon's Q3 revenue falls by a third year-on-year

INDIA: Suzlon's revenues rose quarter-on-quarter but still lagged behind figures from the 2017 financial year, the company's nine-months results show.

by Craig Richard 12 February 2018

Suzlon has an order backlog of 607MW of turbine deliveries, which are backed by power purchase agreements (PPAs), the company stated

The manufacturer's revenue of INR 22 billion ($343 million) was up 86% on the previous quarter total of INR 11.8 billion, but down by roughly a third on its third quarter performance one year earlier, which reached INR 33 billion.

Similarly, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) more than doubled from the previous quarter, from INR 1 billion to INR 2.4 billion, but this was down from INR 7.45 billion in India's 2017 financial year — a decrease of nearly 68%.

Its figures for the first nine months of the financial year were also down annually. Suzlon's revenue for the period was INR 60.5 billion, down 21.5% from INR 77 billion; its gross profit fell from INR 34.5 billion to INR 23.4 billion, while Ebitda was down from INR 14.8 billion to INR 8.2 billion.

Suzlon delivered 256MW of wind turbines in the third quarter, in what it called a "subdued market".

This was up from the 191MW it delivered in the second quarter of India's financial year.

It also has an order backlog of 607MW of turbine deliveries, which are backed by power purchase agreements (PPAs), the company added.

Revenues from its operations and maintenance (O&M) division grew 2% year-on-year from INR 13.1 billion to INR 13.4 billion.

Suzlon CEO, JP Chalasani, said he was "confident" the Indian wind industry would "regain momentum", as there was about 7.5GW of "clear business visibility" for 2018.

India's shift to an auction-based system hit turbine sales and installations throughout the country as developers and financial institutions adapted to the new rules and lower prices.

Announcing Suzlon's results for the first nine months of India's 2018 financial year, Chalasani said: "The domestic wind market is on the path to grow significantly in the competitive bidding regime and increased demand for clean energy, which has now become a reliable and mainstream source of energy."

Suzlon's chief financial officer, Kirti Vagadia, added: "With a robust project pipeline and customer tie ups, we are confident of quickly ramping up volumes and execution to meet the expanded market requirements.

"Our priorities are to build strong order backlog, optimize costs and maintain disciplined working capital levels."