Suzlon hit by "transition period"

Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd (BOM:532667) on Friday reported a INR-1.17-billion (USD 17.9m/EUR 15.3m) net profit, boosted by a gain, for the six months to September 30, 2017, regardless of a drop in revenues.

The company said volumes in the first half of the 2017/18 financial year were impacted by the industry's transition from feed-in tariffs (FiT) to auctions. "This transition has a temporary impact on installations in FY18, due slow beginning of bidding and delay in regulatory approvals," said chief executive J P Chalasani. The CEO expressed confidence the sector will regain momentum in the following financial year, when over 6 GW are expected, and will soon move towards a 10-GW market.

The INR-1.17-billion net profit compares to a INR-200-million net loss a year earlier. Before forex and one-off items, the result was a loss of INR 1.96 billion, significantly wider than the INR-220-million loss in the same period of the previous year.

Results in INR million	H1 FY 2017/18	H1 FY 2016/17	Q2 FY 2017/18	Q2 FY 2016/17
Revenue	38,520	43,840	11,870	27,360
Gross Margin (%)	43.1	45.5	46.9	46.3
EBITDA before forex	5,820	7,360	1,070	5,590
Net profit (loss) before forex, items	(1,960)	(220)	(2,880)	1,840

The company delivered 527 MW in the six months, with solar accounting for 19% of deliveries. It has a firm backlog of 670 MW, including 130-MW solar, and framework agreements for over 1 GW.

(INR 100 = USD 1.528/EUR 1.309)

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