KPCL still in hot water despite returning to production

Khulna Power Company Limited (KPCL) is still in hot water despite the company’s two major power plants returned to production in March last year after a 10-month closure due to the expiry of power supply contracts (PPAs) with the government.

Despite being operative, the listed company reported a net loss of Tk 78.22 crore in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year.

The company had reported no revenue or earnings in the July-September quarter in the last fiscal year.

The power producer’s two major plants – KPCL-II and KPCL-III – had remained idle for 10 months after the expiry of their power purchase agreements with the government in May 2021.

The two plants returned to operation in March last year after the renewal of the agreement with the government, according to the company’s financial statement.

The government extended its power purchase agreement with the company for two more years under the ‘no power, no pay’ policy.

The company logged revenues worth Tk 100 crore in Q1 of the current fiscal year.

But it reported a net loss of Tk 78.22 crore in the first quarter of FY23, compared to a net loss of Tk 3.95 crore in the same period last year.

Because of the out of the production status, the company did not publish its first and second quarterly reports in the last fiscal year.

But it had an expenditure of Tk 9.38 crore in Q1 last fiscal as maintenance cost.

The company reported a per-share loss of Tk 0.10 for Q1 of FY22 against earning per share (EPS) of Tk 0.91 for the corresponding period of the last year.

Against the revenue of Tk 100 crore, the company had compulsory expenses of Tk 57.58 crore in the July-September period of the current fiscal year.

The company’s per-share loss stood at Tk 1.97 for Q1 of the current fiscal year.

When contacted, Mozammel Hossain, company secretary of Khulna Power Company Limited, declined to speak with The Business Post concerning the company affairs.

Khulna Power Company Ltd (KPCL) in April last year had agreed with a US firm namely Excelerate Global Operations LLC to sell its 110MW barge-mounted power plant at a value of $15 million or Tk 130 crore as the plant had been lying idle since 2018 amid no renewal of the power purchase deal with the government.

KPCL, the first private sector power producer in the country, with a current capacity of 155MW of power generation through units II and III, has a PPA agreement with the government until April 2024.

The company also owns a 35 per cent stake in its sister concern United Payra Power’s 150MW plant.

KPCL shares inched down to Tk 26.60 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday.