GMR Infrastructure Ltd has posted a loss of Rs 67 crore for the first quarter this fiscal because of increase in operational costs of the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
For the same period last year, it posted a profit of Rs 28 crore.
The infrastructure major's revenue, however, increased 51 per cent to Rs 1,864 crore (Rs 1,231 crore).
“The high revenues were brought in primarily by the operations of Male International Airport (which was acquired by GMR in November 2010), high traffic growth in the Turkey and Hyderabad airports, and several joint ventures of the Delhi airport,” Mr G.M. Rao, Group Chairman, GMR, told a press conference.
The consolidated entity also saw an increase of 38 per cent in interest costs and a 67 per cent increase in depreciation after the capitalisation of Terminal-3 at Delhi airport.
“While rising inflation and consequential higher interest costs are a cause of concern, this situation will not alter the long-term viability of the infrastructure projects. However, as in the past, we will freeze the interest costs during their low ebbs by tying up long-term finances at fixed interest rates, thus mitigating this interest rate risk,” Mr Rao said in a press release.
The company's debt stood at Rs 17,000 crore, Mr Rao said at the press conference.
The airports' segment of GMR has posted a loss of Rs 165 crore in the quarter primarily because of DIAL's higher operational costs. Its revenues were up 35 per cent to Rs 193 crore. During the quarter, GMR also increased equity base with an investment of $131 million in Airports Holding Company to $331 million.
The net profit from the energy segment grew 78 per cent to Rs 48 crore while revenues grew 18 per cent to Rs 688 crore. The highways segment reduced its losses by Rs 11 crore to Rs 3 crore.