India's Adani Power posts 83% surge in Q1 profit on smaller tax bill

BENGALURU, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Adani Power (ADAN.NS), part of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group, reported an 83.26% rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, boosted by a steep drop in its tax bill and a jump in collection of delayed payments.

The companys consolidated net profit rose to 87.59 billion rupees ($1.06 billion) in the April-June quarter, from 47.80 billion rupees a year ago.

That was mostly due to a near 96% drop in its tax bill and a near four-fold jump in delayed payments, including interest, from power distribution companies.

Still, Adani Powers revenue from operations fell 19.8% to 110.06 billion rupees. Last month, its peer Power Grid Corp of India (PGRD.NS) also posted a drop in profit on weaker demand in its core transmission business.

However, also boosting Adani Powers results was its fuel costs, which is about three-fourths of total expenses, dropping 5.3%. Import prices of coal have plummeted by over 60% over the past year.

The weak coal business however weighed on the Adani Groups flagship company Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS). However, a strong performance at the companys new energy division helped it clock a 44% rise in quarterly profit.

Adani Powers shares rose as much as 4.8% after the results were announced. They have risen 30.4% in the April-June quarter.

($1 = 82.7340 Indian rupees)