Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shares gained about 5% in the trading session of February 2, a day after the company reported its financial results for the October to December 2023 quarter.
Adani Ports stock was among the top three Nifty 50 gainers after India's largest private port operator reported a nearly 68% year-on-year surge in third-quarter profit helped by a jump in cargo volumes and higher tariffs.
EBITDA or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation also increased by nearly 60% from last year to ₹4,292 crore. EBITDA margin expanded by 600 basis points to 62% from 56% last year.
"Adani Ports recorded its strongest ever Q3 and nine-month performance with the highest ever revenue, EBITDA and cargo volumes and is on course to overachieve its full-year guidance provided at the start of the year," said Ashwani Gupta, the CEO of Adani Ports.
What brokerages make of Adani Ports Q3 results
Brokerage firm Bernstein called it a strong quarter on all fronts, from volume to net income. It also pointed out that the firm’s capex for the first nine months of financial year 2023-24 was ₹5,500 crore as against its initial guidance of ₹4,500 cr for the full year.
However, the brokerage believes that the global turmoil in the Red Sea could impact the company’s near-term performance.
Bernstein has an outperform call on the company with a target price of ₹1,243, which is about 2% more than its last closing price on February 1.
HSBC, meanwhile, has raised its target price to ₹1,370 with a buy rating as it believes strong container and dry bulk volumes led to record quarterly throughput and profit.
It also highlighted that Adani Ports met its deleveraging target earlier than its end FY24 goal and that robust cash flows should support future growth ambition. According to the brokerage, EBITDA margin improvement was driven by efficiency gains and better utilisation.
Adani Ports shares were trading 4.8% higher than its previous close at ₹1278.30 on BSE at 12:23 pm.
