India's Adani Group flagship company posts Q3 loss as coal trading segment weighs on profits

Adani Enterprises in India, the flagship of the Adani Group, reported on Thursday a decline in its third-quarter profits, which was impacted by the performance at the company's coal trading division.

The net profit of the company fell to 578.3 millions rupees (6.68 million dollars) during the quarter October-December, down from 18.88 billions rupees one year earlier.

The shares of the company fell by 4.6% and were amongst the worst performers in the benchmark Nifty50 index, which dropped 0.1%.

The overall revenue of the company fell by about 9%, to 228.48 trillion rupees.

The revenue from the coal segment, which accounts for more than one-third of total revenues, dropped by 44%, to 89.80 trillion rupees.

Analysts say that India's coal consumption has dipped, along with the power generation growth, which fell to 3% in the third quarter due to a decline in industrial demand, and a general slowdown of the economy.

The U.S. government accused Gautam Adani, the billionaire founder of the group, and other executives in the middle of the last quarter of participating in a scheme that involved paying bribes for Indian power supply contracts. The group denies the allegations.

(source: Reuters)