Essar Energy plc, an India- focused integrated energy company, today reported a 18 per cent rise in core earnings in the six months ended September 30, 2012 on back of its British Stanlow refinery turnaround.
The London-listed firm said operational earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $383 million in April-September, 2012.
The company, which recently changed its accounting period, had $324 million EBITDA in first half of previous fiscal.
Essar said Stanlow, the UK refinery which Essar acquired from Royal Dutch Shell last year, had operational EBITDA of $197 million in the first half.
Group revenue went up by 97 per cent to $12.8 billion primarily due to higher refining revenues in India from higher capacity and revenue due to the acquisition of Stanlow, the company said in a press statement said.
Essar said its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat is now operating at 20 million tonnes per annum capacity after all expansion units were ramped up and stabilised. The unit earned $6.41 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in H1 as against a gross refining margin (GRM) of $4.75 per barrel a year ago. GRM rose to $11 per barrel in September, it said.
Stanlow GRM averaged $8.03 per barrel in H1 as against $3.1 a barrel in first eight months of ownership.
The company said its power generation capacity has more than doubled since April 2012.
Essar said it is “exploring options to reduce interest costs for the group and extend debt repayment profile.”