Latest News | COVID-19 Impact on Operations to Be Visible in Next Couple of Quarters: Adani Enterprises

New Delhi, Jun 2 (PTI) Impact of COVID-19 and resultant lockdown is likely to be short-term in nature and will affect the next couple of quarters, Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) said on Tuesday.

During the first phase of lockdown till April 19, the company said its offices, storage locations and production facility remained closed, and the company maintained minimum level of operations to ensure timely supply of goods and services to its customers in the essential sectors.

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AEL's core business segments are integrated coal management, mining services, solar manufacturing, airports operations and maintenance, and road and water infrastructure.

"As AEL's core segments are linked with power generation industry which falls under essential service, it becomes imperative for AEL to ensure timely and sufficient supply of coal. During the lockdown, we have ensured continued supply to customers strictly following Government guidelines," the company said in a BSE filing.

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AEL said it continued its operations in mines even in the first stage of lockdown, as supply of coal falls under exemption category with safety and wellbeing of workers and staff given utmost priority.

"The company resumed operations at its production facility, certain offices and few critical storage facilities from April 20, 2020 after obtaining necessary regulatory approvals and clearances. With further relaxations being given in the month of May, we have furthered the operations in the phased manner, strictly adhering to government guidelines and ensuring safety and well-being of our employees," it said.

About financial impact on operations, it said coal supplies were continuous to State Electricity Boards (SEBs) during this period but overall demand was impacted due to lesser power demand and excess domestic cargo being available at coal mines.

"Our sales volumes are expected to be impacted in Q1 FY21. Also margins are expected to be slightly lower in the short run due to excess flow of supply in the market," the company said.

About mining services, it said that power demand and consequent coal demand was partially impacted in Rajasthan during the lockdown.

Post easing, demand of power has gone up and demand of coal is expected to be back to normal, it said.

"We expect to maintain healthy level of volumes despite above aberrations. Since this is contract business, the company does not carry any pricing risk," it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)