Adani Ports shares sink 8% as Q3 earnings miss estimates; profit up 14% at ₹2,520 cr

Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) tumbled nearly 8% in intraday after the company reported lower than expected earnings for the third quarter ended December 31, 2024. The Adani group company reported 14% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at ₹2,520 crore in Q3 FY25, amid a slower growth in cargo volumes, as against market estimates of 17.3% at ₹2,589 crore.

Weighed down by lower than expected Q3 results, Adani Ports share price dropped as much as 7.86% to hit a day’s low of ₹1,011 on the BSE. Early today, the port stock opened marginally higher at ₹1,100.05, after ending up by 1.67% at ₹1,097.25 in the previous session.

Adani Ports shares touched its 52-week high of ₹1,607.95 June 3, 2024, and a 52-week low of ₹993.85 on November 21, 2024. The counter has delivered a negative return of 10% in the last one year, while it lost 30% in six months and 12% so far in January 2025.

APSEZ, in an exchange filing, said that its revenue stood at ₹7,964 crore in December quarter of FY25, registering a growth of 15% from last year's figure of ₹6,920 crore. On the operating front, EBITDA rose 15% YoY to ₹4,802 crore, while margins dropped by 20 basis points to 60.3% from 60.5% in Q3 FY24.

For the first nine months of the current fiscal, revenue was up 14% at ₹22,590 crore, while profit jumped 32% to ₹8,038 crore. The EBITDA grew 19% to ₹14,019 crore, while margin increased to 62%, from 60% in 9M FY24.

"I am excited to share the fantastic momentum we have achieved during 9M FY25, driven by exceptional execution across 3 key areas of our business - market share gains coupled with volume-price mix increase, traction in logistics vertical, and operational efficiencies along with technology-led gains,” says Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director & CEO, APSEZ.

On the logistics front, the company launched a new trucking platform, which is being integrated across the rest of the logistics value chain and will make it a true integrated transport utility, says CEO.

During the quarter under review, APSEZ clocked cargo volume of 113 million metric tonnes (MMT), up 4% from the same period last year. For 9M FY25, it reported cargo volume of 332 MMT, up 7% YoY led by growth in containers (19% YoY), liquids and gas (8% YoY) and dry and dry bulk cargo (iron ore, limestone, minerals, coking coal, etc.), partially offset by decline in imported non-coking coal.

During November ’24, Mundra handled 396 vessels and executed 845 vessel movements, making it the highest ever monthly achievement by the port. Mundra port also exported a record breaking 5,405 cars in a single consignment during the month.

“Gangavaram port launched container terminal operations with the inaugural EXIM vessel call of MV Synergy Keelung,” the release notes.

Going ahead, Adani Ports has raised the full-year EBITDA guidance to ₹18,800-18,900 crore, from ₹17,000-18,000 crore earlier. For the current fiscal, the capex has been pegged in the range of ₹10,500-11,500 crore, with net debt-to-EBITDA ratio between 2.2 times to 2.5 times.

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