Adani Energy Solutions more than doubled its quarterly profit. Most of the growth came from a business that barely existed a year ago. It was not from power lines or smart meters, which investors usually focus on.
Adani Energy Solutions reported consolidated net profit of ₹1,364 crore for the September quarter. Profit rose 145% from ₹557 crore a year earlier. Total income rose 51% to ₹10,239 crore, and EBITDA reached a record ₹3,548 crore, up 67%.
The source of that growth is the important detail. The company’s “energy solutions platform”, which offers power-related services and supply to large customers, earned operating revenue of ₹2,197 crore this quarter, up from ₹201 crore a year earlier. Its operating EBITDA rose to ₹803 crore from ₹11 crore. Over the half-year, the segment brought in ₹4,103 crore of revenue and ₹1,393 crore of operating EBITDA.
In other words, this new segment accounts for a large share of the company’s EBITDA growth this year. That changes how the company should be analysed. Transmission is a regulated business with long-term contracted tariffs, which makes its earnings very predictable. A new energy services business is likely to be less steady. Investors will want more detail on how much of this revenue repeats each quarter and how much depends on individual contracts.
Transmission keeps growing
The core business is still growing steadily. Transmission operating revenue rose 17% to ₹1,521 crore, and the network averaged 99.8% availability in the quarter, meaning lines were almost always running. During the quarter the company won two new projects, Vizag Power Transmission and Satara Power Transmission, taking its order book of projects under construction to about ₹87,000 crore. Spending on transmission projects in the first half rose 1.7 times to ₹5,542 crore.
The transmission order book reflects a national need. India is adding large amounts of solar and wind capacity, much of it in remote areas such as Gujarat’s Khavda region, far from the cities that use the power. The new capacity is useful only if transmission lines can carry it to consumers. That makes companies like AESL an important part of India’s energy transition and energy security plans.
Some of the reported growth reflects accounting. Under service concession accounting, which applies to infrastructure built under long-term government contracts, companies record income as construction progresses. Faster capital spending therefore raises reported income during the build phase.
Smart meter installations slowed
Smart meters were the weaker part of the quarter. AESL installed 1.3 million meters, fewer than the 1.8 million it installed in the same quarter last year. Its total installed base is now 14.8 million meters, and its order book covers 24.6 million meters across ten projects, with potential revenue of about ₹29,519 crore. Smart metering revenue more than doubled to ₹267 crore, but slower installations matter because the national opportunity is about 86 million meters, and the pace of execution will determine how much of it AESL captures.
The Mumbai distribution business sold about 11% more electricity than a year ago, which reflects strong urban demand.
The company also raised ₹3,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement during the period, adding equity to fund its large capital spending plans.
The result is a company with predictable, long-term transmission earnings, plus a fast-growing but less familiar services business. The energy solutions segment is now driving profit, so investors will need more disclosure about how it works and how lasting its earnings are.
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