The Hindu Business Line : CESC posts Rs 92.9-cr pre-tax profit

CESC Ltd, through a preliminary announcement today of its 2003-04 results, declared a Rs 92.9-crore profit before tax and special appropriation for 2003-04 compared with Rs 7.62 crore in the previous year.

A CESC spokesman said that lower interest and personnel costs, lower power purchase volume, higher plant load factor and lower transmission and distribution costs were the main reasons for the improved profit.

After making various adjustments, CESC's profit has been placed at Rs 70.55 crore, against a Rs 5.23-crore loss made in 2002-03.

The pre-tax profit figure declared today reflected the adjustments made in view of the tariff order announced for the utility by the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC). "The topline remained the same, but CESC's bottomline changed on account of the various efficiency norms allowed to the company in the WBERC order," company sources said.

CESC's power purchase stood at 861 million units in 2003-04, against 1,163 million units in the previous year. Higher generation allowed the RPG-controlled utility to import lower amount of power while selling more.

As per CESC's announcement, an aggregate sum of Rs 155.93 crore lying in various reserves is proposed to be transferred to the general reserve. As on March 31, 2004, reserves (excluding revaluation reserves) is placed at Rs 1,009.32 crore. No dividend has been recommended.