Shares of NHPC jumped as much as 5.1 per cent on Friday as the board has approved amending the company’s Memorandum of Association to enable it to apply to power regulator CERC for a trading licence. The decision is in line with the Power Ministry’s plan to make NHPC an aggregator to help meet the demand for peaking power.
At present, NHPC cannot do so because it does not have a trading licence. The amendment to the MoA will be subject to shareholders’ approval.
After opening strong at Rs 30 against the previous close of Rs 29.50, the scrip touched an intraday high of Rs 31 and a low of Rs 29.80. In terms of equity volume, 17.87 lakh shares exchanged hands in the evening trade.
The company shares ended higher by 2.88 per cent at Rs 30.35 on the BSE. On the NSE, the stock closed up 2.54 per cent at Rs 30.25.
The state-run hydro power producer had reported a 34.5 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 1,018.64 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2017 compared with Rs. 1,554.66 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2016. The company’s total income decreased to Rs. 1,971.69 crore in the quarter from Rs. 2,403.36 crore from the year-ago period.