Shapoorji Pallonji Group Company’s end-to-end solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) solutions provider Sterling and Wilson Solar declared its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2021, reflecting record losses.

The company’s revenue from operations stood at ₹13.64 billion (~$183.65 million) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2021 (FY 2021), down 34% year-over-year (YoY) from ₹20.60 billion (~$277.32 million) in Q4 FY 2020 and up by 4% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) from ₹13.11 billion (~$176.56 million) in Q3 2021.

The revenue for FY 2021 stood at ₹50.8 billion (682.18 million), down by 8.8% compared to the previous financial year, when the company earned ₹55.75 billion (~$748.65 million).

The company registered losses to the tune of ₹3.44 billion (~$46.23 million) in Q4 compared to profits of ₹224.5 million (~$3.2 million) earned in Q3 FY 2021. The company had registered profits of ₹1.28 billion (~$17.2 million) in Q4 FY 2020. The overall loss for the company in FY 2021 stood at ₹2.90 billion (~$38.98 million) compared to a profit of ₹3.04 billion (~$40.86 million) in FY 2020.

According to the company, the overall financial performance for FY 2021 was impacted due to one-off exceptional events in Q4FY21 comprising a prime subcontractor going bankrupt in Australia. In a BSE notification filed in May this year, the company stated that it had to appoint alternate sub-contractors for the task. However, the service was procured at a higher quotation due to border restrictions and other effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Apart from this, the increase in prices of modules, commodities, and higher freight cost and provision for liquidated damages on account of delay due to COVID-19 severely affected the overall financial performance.

Amit Jain, Global CEO of Sterling and Wilson, said, “The prices of solar modules have seen an unprecedented increase over the past few months due to a significant increase in polysilicon. Prices of aluminum, copper, and steel have also risen along with freight costs. We expect the sector to continue to face some pressure in the near term due to rising solar module prices, increased commodity cost, and supply chain disruptions caused due to COVID-19 outbreak. However, we are working with our clients to mitigate these issues and find a win-win solution.”

The company claims to have robust order inflows of ₹79.36 billion (~$1.06 billion) for FY21, up 72% compared to the restated order book of ₹46.02 billion (~$ 618.7 million) for FY 2020.

The company reduced its term debt from ₹8.1 billion (~$108.9 million) to ₹740 million (~$9.95 million). The company’s expense also dropped from ₹19.61 billion (~$263.76 million) in FY 2020 to ₹18.16 billion (~$244.2 million) in the current financial year.

Earlier in April this year, Solar developer Amplus Solar had announced the acquisition of 17 on-site operational solar projects from Sterling and Wilson Private Limited. Spread over Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Karnataka, these 17 projects totaling 7.2 MW have been supplying solar power to 13 leading industrial, commercial, and institutional customers.

Rahul is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Before entering the world of renewables, Rahul was head of the Gujarat bureau for The Quint. He has also worked for DNA Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad Mirror. Hailing from a banking and finance background, Rahul has also worked for JP Morgan Chase and State Bank of India. More articles from Rahul Nair.