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It’s time for a change of guard at Kolkata-based CESC Ltd. In a board meeting on Tuesday, Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, was appointed as the new Chairman of CESC. Sanjiv, previously the Vice-Chairman of the company, succeeds his father, late R.P. Goenka.
In a more significant move, Sumantra Banerjee, Managing Director of CESC since 1992, will step down with effect from July 31. He will be replaced by Aniruddha Basu, who will take over on August 1. Basu is currently the Executive Director (Distribution Services).
According to a company release, Banerjee “expressed his desire to step down”. He will, however, continue to act as “Advisor to Chairman”.
New power Projects
The first unit of the 2 X 300 MW Chandrapur (Maharashtra) project, Goenka said, will be on-stream next month. The second phase is expected to be operational in October.
The 2 X 300 MW Haldia unit is under construction. The project will be operational between September and December 2014.
With a 40 MW wind energy project operational in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan), CESC is looking for more opportunities in the wind-farm sector in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Spencer’s de-merger
Spencer’s, Goenka said, will be de-merged into a separate retail entity through a “mirror-level de-merger” followed by an initial public offering (IPO). Mirror-level de-merger means the promoters’ stake will remain same in both CESC and Spencer’s following the de-merger.
“We will have an IPO once Spencer’s turns profitable,” Goenka said. During 2012-13, the retailer reported a loss of Rs 80 crore, down by nearly 64 per cent from Rs 220 crore in the previous year.
CESC profit up
CESC, meanwhile, reported a marginal rise in standalone net profit to Rs 256 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2013, as against Rs 255 crore in the previous year period. Standalone total income from operations stood at Rs 1,492 crore (Rs 1,391 crore).
For the fiscal, CESC reported a 12 per cent increase in consolidated net profit of around Rs 618 crore, as against last fiscal's Rs 554 crore. Annual income stood at Rs 7,551 crore.
The board has declared a dividend of 70 per cent. CESC stock closed at Rs 336.40, up by 2.25 per cent, at the BSE on Tuesday.
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