Mumbai: Coal India Limited (CIL), a central government public sector undertaking, on Friday reported a 22% decline in its consolidated profit at ₹6,274.80 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 owing to lower sales. The company has stated this in a regulatory filing.
The state-owned coal company, which accounts for over 80% of India’s domestic coal production, reported a net profit of ₹6,289.10 crore, marking a 22% decrease from ₹8,048.6 crore in the same quarter last year.
The revenue from operations of the CIL has come down by 6.4% to ₹30,672.9 crore on year on year basis. Similarly, EBITDA of the company was reported ₹8,617 crore, which was down by 14.2% on YoY basis and EBITDA margin was reported 28.1%. The board has declared the first interim dividend of ₹15.75 per share for 2024-25.
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The results indicate a challenging environment for CIL, as it grapples with declining coal prices and increased operational costs. The revenue drop reflects lower sales volumes and pricing pressures in the coal market.
Following the announcement, shares of CIL closed at ₹459.95, down by ₹17.30 or 3.62% on October 25, 2024. Analysts had anticipated a profit of ₹6,900 crore for the quarter, indicating that the actual results fell short of expectations. The decline in stock price suggests that investor sentiment may be cautious as they assess the implications of these results on future performance.
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The consolidated income of the PSU in the July-September period dropped to Rs 32,177.92 crore, over Rs 34,760.30 crore in the second quarter of the previous fiscal. The consolidated sales of the company during the second quarter declined to Rs 27,271.30 crore, over Rs 29,978.01 crore in the year-ago period.
According to the regulatory filing, CIL stated that its board has approved the closure of CIL Solar PV Ltd (CSPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. The closure of CSPL is expected to last for a period of 8-10 months. Since its inception, CSPL has not undertaken any commercial activities, it said.
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Market analysts said that the CSPC was unable to compete in the market with existing players owing to restrictions imposed on it to procure cheaper alternatives of Solar PV. The CPSU is not deemed to purchase manufacturing technologies from countries sharing land border with India, including China, which results in an uneven playing field by making impact on the feasibility of the project.
