Azure Global Power Limited reported revenue of ₹3.05 billion (~$42.6 million) for Q3 FY20, an increase of 25% year-over-year but the company still registered a net loss of ₹1.36 billion (~$19 million) for Q3 of the financial year 2019-20.

The company in its statement said that the adjusted EBIDTA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the quarter ended December 31, 2019, was ₹2.1 billion (~$29.5 million), an increase of 15% when compared to the same period in 2018.

The net loss for the Q3 FY20 was ₹1.36 billion (~$19.03 million) compared to the net profit of ₹165.3 million (~$2.32 million) during the same period in 2018. The company stated that the higher losses are primarily due to higher provision for accounts receivable, management transition, write-offs related to the solar green bonds issued in the previous quarter, and higher income tax expenses.

The Company reported higher losses by ₹994.3 million ($ 13.9 million), due to a negative impact of ₹213.0 million ($ 3 million) due to power curtailment in Andhra Pradesh and lower revenues from the rooftop business, higher interest expense by ₹508.5 million ($7.1 million) and higher general and administrative expense by ₹272.8 million ($ 3.8 million).

The electricity generation for Q3 2019 and nine months of the FY 2019-20 stood at 685.1 million kWh and 1,995 million kWh, respectively, an increase of 57% over the quarter ended December 31, 2018, and an increase of 65% over the nine-month period for the financial year 2018-19.

The company stated that the increase in electricity generation was basically because of additional operating capacity during the period driven by the commissioning of new projects. The company’s plant load factor (PLF) stood at 17.7% and 18.6% respectively for Q3 2019 and the nine-month period which ended on December 31, 2019, as compared to 17.9% and 17.7% for the same period in 2018.

In the statement released by the company, the company said that the project cost per MW (DC) operating for the nine months of FY20 saw a decrease of ₹9.8 million (~$0.14 million) to ₹34.4 million (~$482,455). The decline was mainly attributed to lower module prices for the projects commissioned during the period. The project cost per MW (AC) for the nine months of the financial year 2019-20 stood at ₹47.9 million (~$671,791) as compared to ₹48.5 million (~$680,206) for the same period in 2018.

As of December 2019, the company’s operating and committed solar capacity increased by 2,241 MW to 5,300 MW as compared to December 31, 2018. During the period, the company received letters of award for 2,000 MW of new projects.

The cost of operations for Q3 increased by 22% to ₹266.5 million (~$3.73 million) from ₹219 million (~$3.07 million) during the same period in 2018. The increase in the cost of operation was mainly because of the rise in operational expenses from projects commissioned during the period from January 01, 2019, through to December 31, 2019.

The company stated that the depreciation and amortization expenses during the Q3 increased by ₹240.6 million (~$3.4 million) to ₹716.6 million (~$10 million) compared to the same period in 2018.

Cash from operating activities for the Q3 was ₹796.7 million (~$11.2 million) compared to an outflow of ₹225.4 million (~$3.16 million) for the prior comparable quarter. Cash generated from operating activities for the nine months ended December 31, 2019, was $1.8 billion (~$25.8 million) compared to an inflow of ₹789 million (~$11.06 million) for the prior comparable period.

Recently, Azure Power won the first of its kind manufacturing-linked solar tender floated by the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) for 7 GW of solar capacity. Azure took the greenshoe option for an additional capacity of 500 MW manufacturing and 2 GW generation. With this, the total allocation for Azure comes to 1,000 MW of cell and module manufacturing and 4 GW of generation capacity. Azure’s investor presentation said that they were not entering into manufacturing but have partnered with Waaree Energies for 500 MWs and have closed discussions with another manufacturer for the other 500 MWs.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Market Leaderboard 1H 2019, Azure Power was the top utility-scale developer as well as the top rooftop solar installer during 1H 2019.

Image credit: Azure Power