Azure Power, an independent solar power producer, has announced its consolidated financial results for the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year (FY) 2019-20.

The company generated a revenue of ₹3.389 billion (~$49.2 million) for Q1 of FY 2019-20 that ended on June 30, 2019. This is a 40% increase over the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The rise in revenue was driven by the commissioning of new projects.

The company’s statement said that generation of electricity during the first quarter of FY 2019-20 increased by 75% (229.3 million kWh) to 700.1 million kWh compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2018. Newly added operating capacity during the period has contributed to the increased electricity generation.

The operational project capacity in the quarter reached 1,609 MW, as of June 30, 2019, a growth of 59% over the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The company’s operating and under development project capacity is now 3,351 MW.

Azure incurred losses of ₹50.3 million (US$ 0.7 million) compared to a loss of ₹ 204.2 million, during the same period last year due to foreign exchange rate hedging expenses.

The net income for the quarter of fiscal year 2020 increased by ₹60.4 million (~$0.9 million) to ₹90.2 million (~$1.3 million). The net income for the same period in 2018 was ₹29.8 million (~$418,264). This was due to the increase in revenues during the period.

The project cost per megawatt for the quarter under consideration decreased by ₹4.1 million (~$0.06 million) to ₹40.2 million (~$0.58 million) due to decline in solar module prices for the projects commissioned during the period. The company is yet to recover the payment of safeguard duty.

The cost of operations for quarter one of the fiscal year 2020 was ₹296.9 million (~$4.3 million). This was an increase of 36% from ₹218.2 million (~$3.06 million) in the same period of 2018. The rise in costs was due to the increase in project maintenance cost of the recently commissioned projects.

In the previous quarter,  the company generated a revenue of ₹2,847.2 million ($41.1 million). This is a 26% increase over the ₹2,259.1 million ($34.7 million) generated during the same period of 2018. The revenue increase was primarily due to new solar capacity additions during the year.

In terms of guidance, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, Azure expects to have an operational capacity of 1,800 – 1,900 MWs. The Company is reiterating its guidance of revenues in the range of ₹12,770 – 13,350 million ($185– 194 million at the June 30, 2019 exchange rate of ₹ 68.92 to US$ 1.00) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.