GAIL reports ₹2,029.50 cr net profit in third quarter

GAIL (India) Ltd has reported a ₹2,029.51 crore consolidated net profit for the third quarter of financial year 2019-2020. This is 12.94 per cent higher than the ₹1,797.04 crore net profit reported by the company in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The rise in profit is mainly due to better physical performance and better margins in gas marketing and liquid hydrocarbons, a company statement said.

The company’s board has declared a 64 per cent interim dividend amounting to ₹2,886.49 crore, a BSE filing said.

During the quarter under review, consolidated total income of the company fell to ₹18,094.15 crore, down 11.12 per cent from the ₹20,358.52 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

GAIL also said that the Department of Telecommunications had raised a demand of ₹1,83,076 crore as annual licence fee. The company is contesting the claim.

Revenue from GAIL’s primary business of natural gas marketing rose marginally to ₹17,157.64 crore during the quarter ended December 2019. Revenue from city gas, LPG and liquid hydrocarbons, and petrochemical segments declined between 5.17 per cent and 35.61 per cent compared with the quarter ended December 2018.

Ashutosh Karnatak, Chairman and Managing Director at GAIL, said the company managed to report higher profits despite a significant decline in petrochemicals prices. He said this was because of improved operational efficiency and physical performance, with increased capacity utilisation of the petrochemical unit at Pata.