OPG Power Ventures plc Trading Update (1480V)
January 26 2017 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMOPG
RNS Number : 1480V
OPG Power Ventures plc
26 January 2017
26 January 2017
OPG Power Ventures plc
("OPG", the "Group" or the "Company")
Trading update
OPG Power Ventures PLC, the developer and operator of power
plants in India, announces the following update. In early November
2016, the federal government announced the de-monetisation of high
denomination currency (Rs.500 & Rs.1000 bills which amounted to
85.5% of the currency in circulation). This degree of overnight
contraction in currency supply had an effect on short term consumer
spending across the country, which has impacted some of our
customers and therefore their near term demand for electricity. As
the short term effect of this gradually subsides, there is a widely
held view that the event will act as a significant positive on the
long term sustainable growth of India's economy. We believe we have
been able to largely mitigate the impact to date of this event
through the diversity of our customer base.
December 2016 witnessed the sad passing away of the Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa Jayaram. Given Ms Jayalalithaa's
immense popularity, commercial activity in Tamil Nadu was
understandably at a low ebb for about a week just after her
passing. Shortly thereafter, Cyclone Vardah hit the northern parts
of the state. This cyclone caused only minor damage at the plant,
which was quickly returned to near full availability, but it
severely impacted regional transmission infrastructure as well as
commercial activity. As the transmission system is being restored
and commercial activity for our customers is returning to normal,
the Chennai plant too is gradually resuming full service with load
factors expected to normalise from February 2017.
Taking the impact of these events together, the Board has
refined its expectations for the Chennai plant to achieve a
reportable load factor of approximately 76% for FY17 as a whole,
compared with the expectation indicated at the time of the
Company's half year results of around 80%. This corresponds to a
reduction in revenue estimates of around GBP5-6m.
The Directors believe that the Group's modular assets, capex
planning, gearing levels, dual location and highly diversified
customer base enable the Group to manage the impact of such
unforeseen events. In addition, the pursuit of a group captive
business model has served to cushion against such unfortunate
instances. The Board remains confident about the Group's
prospects.
The Group's Q3 update is due to be issued on 28(th) February
2017.
For further information, please visit www.opgpower.com or
contact:
OPG Power Ventures PLC
Arvind Gupta / V Narayan +91 (0) 44 429
Swami 11211
OPG - Investor Relations +44 (0) 20 7850
Ajay Paliwal / Pooja Maru 7070
Cenkos Securities (Nominated
Adviser & Broker) +44 (0) 20 7397
Stephen Keys / Camilla Hume 8900
Macquarie Capital (Europe)
Limited (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 3037
Raj Khatri / Nick Stamp 2000
Tavistock (Financial PR)
Simon Hudson / James Collins +44 (0) 20 7920
/ Barney Hayward 3150
OPG operates and develops power generation related assets in
India and at 30(th) September 2016 had 750 MW of assets with a
further 186 MW under development or in pipeline. In the six months
ended 30(th) September 2016, according to its unaudited results for
the period, the Company generated revenues of GBP118 million,
EBITDA of GBP41 million, profit before tax of GBP18 million and
earnings per share of 4.80 pence.
-ends-
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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January 26, 2017 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)