NTPC — earnings call

The transcript as filed. Every paragraph is addressable: its link names the page and the position it sits at in the call.

Prepared remarks

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

We have the next question from the line of Anuj Upadhyay from HDFC Securities.

Please go ahead.

Anuj Upadhyay

Sir, in the opening remarks, you mentioned that the profit from your JV has declined to somewhere around INR 120-odd crore compared to INR 526 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Any reason for this non-performance, sir?

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

Before we take the next question, a reminder to all the participants anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone phone now.

The next question is from the line of Rahul Modi from ICICI Securities.

Please go ahead.

Rahul Modi

Sir, a couple of questions that I had.

Now the regulated equity has gone up quite substantially due to the merger of Nabinagar and Kanti in the standalone books.

So can you help us with reconciling the profit numbers as obviously, the growth seems to be a bit muted, partly that can be understood due to the reduction in the other income, I believe in the late payment surcharge.

Sir, what are the other aspects which probably we need to look at to reconcile, because the growth in the regulated equity has been quite significant.

So. is there any adjustments which is happening?

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

We have the next question from the line of Aniket Mittal from SBI Mutual Fund.

Please go ahead.

Aniket Mittal

Sir, a few questions actually on the solar front.

Sir, if I remember correctly, for execution of the solar projects, we were talking earlier that we would procure the modules ourselves and then do the balance of system works with the other players.

So, I just wanted to understand on that front, what are we currently doing in terms of executing this?

Are we looking to procure the models ourselves and heading in that direction?

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

We have the next question from the line of Apoorva Bahadur from Investec.

Please go ahead.

NTPC Limited October 29, 2022

Apoorva Bahadur

Sir, a couple of questions.

Firstly, if you could share the fixed cost under recovery, late payment surcharge and the PLF incentive numbers for the quarter, that'd be very helpful.

Moderator · Conference Operator

We have the next question from the line of Nikhil Abhyankar from DAM Capital.

Nikhil Abhyankar

Just to add to the previous question.

Sir, you have just mentioned that we have Lara 1,600 MW and around 3.2 GW 3 other projects.

So, can you just give us a time line of the ordering for these projects year-wise?

Say, FY23, we have already done one.

So, will we have anything else and FY24, FY25 and so on?

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

We have the next question from the line of Atul Tiwari from Citigroup.

Please go ahead.

Atul Tiwari

Yes.

Sir, my question is on the average realizations, which have been disclosed.

So there has been a very sharp increase over the past six, seven months in the average realization.

So, is it all driven by imported coal?

Or is there any other reason to it?

And what is the proportion of imported coal that is being used?

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

We have the next question from the line of Kirti Jain from Canara HSBC.

Kirti Jain

Sir, with regard to this joint venture, last year, we made a profit of INR 1,000 crore.

When things normalize with this Meja stabilizing in and this fertilizer units at HURL getting normalized, what is the likely profit we can see a contribution from this joint venture, sir?

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

Next question is from the line of B Vijay Kumar from Spark Capital.

B Vijay Kumar

What is the portfolio size in terms of gigawatt that would be monetized by December that you mentioned.

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

Sir, we have two more participants who are waiting in the queue.

Can we take those questions?

We have the next question from the line of Anupam Goswami from B&K Securities.

Please go ahead.

NTPC Limited October 29, 2022

Anupam Goswami

My first question is on the monetization.

So right now, we have about 2.8 gigawatts and it includes the potential work that is going on in the storage and on the battery level.

Is it very prudent to dilute about 20% right now rather than having a little significant portion of the work done and then going for it?

Because the valuation can vary accordingly.

So, what is the thought process behind this?

Why was the monetization needed so early?

Moderator · Conference Operator

We have the next question from the line of Koundinya Nimmagadda from J P Morgan.

Koundinya Nimmagadda

Just one question from my end.

If I look at the under-recovery number you quoted around INR 700 crore.

It was around INR 500 crore, if I remember correctly, in June.

So just trying to understand what led to this increase per se?

And what is the quantum of fuel cost under-recovery in any within this?

Moderator · Conference Operator

As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.

Ujjwal K. Bhattacharya

Before Director (Finance) gives you the closing comments, let me add one news to all of you.

That as you must be knowing that on the Capex side, we are progressing very fast.

All the FGD projects are in different stages of completion, and we will be investing a lot in the Capex.

On the coal side, we are going to add as we have explained.

We're also looking at various options in terms of further capacity addition for which different types of funding is on the board, including RE.

So, the Capex is only going to shoot up.

And accordingly, the future of the company is going to look brighter.

Jaikumar Srinivasan

Yes.

So, on behalf of the management, I thank all the participants for attending this conference call.

I would also like to thank Rahul Modi from ICICI Securities for organizing this.

Thanks a lot.

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you.

On behalf of ICICI Securities, that concludes this conference.

Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. *********************************

Questions and answers

“NTPC Limited

Moderator · Conference Operator

Thank you, very much.

We will now begin with the question-and-answer-session.

Anyone, wishing to ask a question may please press star and one on your touchtone phone.

If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue you may press star and two.

Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.

The first question is from the line of Mohit Kumar from DAM Capital.

Please go ahead.

Mohit Kumar

Yes.

My first question is on the interest cost and late payment surcharge.

I think you accounted roughly INR 3.9 billion in the interest cost related to the electricity late payment surcharge rules.

Can you please explain how much is the amount which is being availed in this scheme?

And how we have done the accounting?

And is it onetime charge?

And also, the finance cost has been restated for last financial year and last quarter?