Suzlon Posts Net Loss of Rs 834.22 Crore in March Quarter

Suzlon Energy has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.22 crore for the March quarter mainly due to lower revenues and high finance cost.

Wind turbine major Suzlon Energy has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.22 crore for the March quarter mainly due to lower revenues and high finance cost. The consolidated net loss of the company was Rs 294.64 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, 2019, a regulatory filing said.

Total income from operations of the company declined to Rs 658.89 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 1,450.47 crore in the year-ago quarter. The consolidated net loss of the company in 2019-20 was Rs 2,691.84 crore as against Rs 1,537.19 crore in 2018-19.

Total income from operations in 2019-20 dropped to Rs 3,000.42 crore from Rs 5,074.64 crore in 2018-19.

Suzlon Group CEO J P Chalasani said, ”it was a highly challenging year where the market remained restricted to very low volumes and the country witnessed only 20 percent capacity utilisation. Suzlon has installed 350 megawatts (MW) in 2019-20 in spite of working capital constraints and the debt restructuring process.”

Chalasani said the market is now on a path to recovery and tenders from earlier auctions are yet to close.

“The company is very well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity to post debt restructuring. The government’s thrust on ‘Make in India’… will also help Suzlon’s growth as we would be able to manufacture wind turbines and its components for the sector as a whole in the country and reduce imports,” he added.

The group continued to incur losses in 2019-20 primarily due to lower volumes, high finance cost and provisions for impairment, the company said. The negative net worth of the group stood at Rs 11,042 crore as on March 31, 2020.

Meanwhile, the company’s board has approved the resignation of Group Chief Executive Officer J P Chalasani. The company said Chalasani has resigned with effect from July 7, 2020. However, it said that he will continue with the company as a strategic advisor.

Suzlon CFO Swapnil Jain said, in 2019-20, debt restructuring and working capital constraints continued to impede the company’s operations and that is reflected in its performance.

“Our losses at EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) level are primarily because the WTG (Wind Turbine Generator) business was almost at a standstill resulting in under-absorption of overheads and certain non-recurring costs.

“Having closed our debt restructuring successfully we have also reduced our fixed costs in 2019-20 thereby bringing down our break-even levels significantly. Post restructuring we will have an improved balance sheet in 2020-21, equipping us to ramp up execution of our order book,” he added.