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NTPC Ltd has reported a ₹2,360.81-crore profit after tax from continuing operations for the third quarter of the financial year 2017-2018. This is 4.39 per cent lower than the bottom line reported in the corresponding period of the last financial year.

The board also recommended an interim dividend of ₹2.73 per equity share (face value of ₹ 10 each) for the financial year 2017-2018, according to an NTPC statement.

The board has also appointed Prasant Kumar Mohapatra as Director (Technical) and Prakash Tiwari as Director (Operations) of NTPC from January 31.

The fall in bottom line is despite the 7 per cent rise in the top line. Total revenue from operations stood at ₹21,087.84 crore, higher than the ₹19,646.09-crore reported in the third quarter of financial year 2016-2017.

The divergence between top line and bottom line movement can be attributed to higher employee payouts.

A company statement said that employee benefit expense for the quarter ended December 31 is higher by ₹ 446.89 crore compared to the corresponding periods of the previous year. This is on account of provision towards pay revision of the employees due (with effect from January 1, 2017) and a surge in encashment of earned leaves of the employees.