New Delhi: State-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd on Tuesday reported a 56 % jump in its September quarter net profit as bumper earnings from gas transmission and marketing business offset petrochem losses. Standalone net profit of INR 2,404.89 crore in July-September, or INR 3.66 per share, was 54.4 % higher than INR 1,537.07 crore, or INR 2.34 a share, profit in the same period last year, according to the company’s stock exchange filing.
GAIL saw pre-tax earnings from its mainstay gas transportation business soar 82 % to INR 1,290.65 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. Also, its pre-tax earnings from the marketing of natural gas jumped almost 400 % to INR 1,784.58 crore.
Losses in the petrochemical business narrowed to INR 160.61 crore from INR 346.22 crore in July-September 2022.
Its revenue from operations dropped to INR 31,882.62 crore in July-September from INR 38,490.89 crore on lower gas prices.
During the quarter, GAIL’s natural gas transmission volume stood at 120.31 million standard cubic meters per day in the second quarter of the current fiscal (2023-24) against 116.33 mmscmd in Q1, the company said in a statement.
Gas marketing volume stood at 96.96 mmscmd against 98.84 mmscmds in the previous quarter.
GAIL chairman and managing director Sandeep Kumar Gupta said that during the quarter, the company has performed well, especially on the strength in the gas transmission segment, which will continue to perform better.
He said performance during the quarter was constrained due to lower realisation in polymers and LPG, which are expected to be better going forward.
Polymer and LPG production in Q2 was almost flat.
The company, he said, incurred a capex of around INR 4,853 crore during the current half-year, mainly on pipelines, petrochemicals and equity to joint ventures.
At an investor call after the earnings announcement, GAIL director (finance) Rakesh Kumar Jain said the company hopes to exit the financial year in March 2024 with a gas transmission volume of 123-124 mmscmd. This compares to 107 mmscmd in the last financial year.
