Power utility firm CESC Ltd on Thursday reported a 1.3 per cent increase in its standalone profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 154 crore in the quarter ended December 31 as compared to Rs 152 crore in the year-ago period.The company's subsidiary Spencer's Retail Ltd is expected to make a profit before tax (PBT) from the first quarter of the next fiscal, an official said.The R.P. Sanjiv Goenka Group's flagship company registered a sales growth of over 3 per cent in the quarter. Its revenue from operations for the December quarter was Rs 1,706 crore, up by 5.3 per cent, as against Rs 1,620 crore in the corresponding period of 2016-17.Asked about the flat profit in the quarter, company Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said: "There is no increase in tariff."Responding to a query on the recent coal price revision, he said it had a definitive "cost impact".The company's total expenses for the quarter under review were at Rs 1,622 crore as against Rs 1,511 crore in the same period of 2016-17.
Elaborating on CESC restructuring, he said, "The NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) hearing is on. There will be final hearing later next month. Hopefully, it should get cleared...all the requisite clearances had happened."Speaking on the SRL, he said: "It is first quarter in which it registered positive PBDT (profit before depreciation and tax). Hopefully, it (Spencer's) should be PBT (profit before tax)-positive April-June quarter (first quarter of 2018-19) onwards."Goenka said the retail company clocked Rs 570 crore sales in the December quarter and average sales per square ft was Rs 1,607.He said seven stores across the country have been added in the last nine months of the current fiscal and six more would be opened by the end of this financial year."There will be greater focus on apparel and HWP categories and both are high-margin categories. We expect to see more sales growth," he said.The Group has also exited from the Au Bon Pain joint venture, Goenka said. "We are out of it."Au Bon Pain Cafe India Limited (ABPCIL) was a subsidiary of SRL, catering to the 'fast casual restaurants' segment as the Indian master franchisee of ABP Corporation, USA.