Tech Mahindra Q4 profit dives 33% on weak margins
Earlier this month, ABC News had reported that the state government was considering giving Adani a discount on royalties which could total up to A$320 million in lost revenue to the state.
On May 22, Adani deferred a final investment decision on its much-delayed Carmichael coal mine project after the Queensland government failed to decide on royalties amounting to millions of dollars for the project.
Adani wanted the Queensland government to delay the start of royalty obligations on the coal mine it hopes to build in Queensland’s Galilee Basin.
The Carmichael project, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs, has been facing opposition from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The group has for more than five years battled opposition from green groups who are opposed to any expansion of the port, saying it will cut into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The Adani group entered Australia in 2010 with the purchase of the greenfield Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, and the Abbot Point port near Bowen in the north. Australian resource minister Matthew Canavan on May 24 warned the Queensland government that India could look elsewhere for its coal requirements if it delays its decision on a royalty holiday deal with the Adani Group. “India has a massive need for energy resources in the next couple of decades. A huge part of that will be increased coal use.”
Tech Mahindra, India’s fifth-largest software service provider, posted a lower-than-expected fourthquarter consolidated profit, weighed down by weak margins and higher cost of services.
Consolidated profit for the quarter ended March 31 fell 33% to ₹5.90 billion rupees ($91.53 million). Analysts on average had expected March-quarter consolidated profit of ₹7.83 billion, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Consolidated margin on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 12% in the quarter from 16.7% a year earlier. EBITDA took a $20 million hit which came from the company’s exit of a networking business contract, said CFO Milind Kulkarni. Consolidated total tax expenses surged 28%to ₹2.32 billion, while cost of services jumped 14.7%.
The company posted a near 10 percent jump in consolidated total revenue, helped by growth in its European business.
An appreciating rupee in the quarter and a $15 million impact from “re-profiling” some of the company’s legacy business also contributed to the fall, Kulkarni added.