Gail Q3 results: Consolidated net profit jumps 700% to Rs 3,193 cr

The latest rise was due to lower purchase of stock in trade, higher gas trading margins

State-run gas supplier Gail on Tuesday reported a massive 703 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,193.34 crore in the third quarter (October-December) of 2023-24 (FY24) against Rs 397.59 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, its net profit rose 30.75 per cent, up from Rs 2,442.18 crore.

The latest rise in net profits came on a low base as Gail had suffered from disruptions to supply from Russian energy giant Gazprom and higher global gas prices. Case in point, the growth was accompanied by a 3.26 per cent fall in consolidated revenue from operations to Rs 34,767.84 crore in Q3FY24, down from Rs 35,939.96 crore in Q3 FY23.

Gail had also purchased Rs 31,761.58 crore worth of stock in trade in the year-ago period, higher than the Rs 25,386.40 crore worth of purchase made in Q3FY24. Gail said the growth was also due to higher gas trading margin, increase in transmission volume, and transmission tariff.

For the first nine months of FY24, the cumulative net profit rose to Rs 7,428.5 crore, up from Rs 4,953.1 crore registered in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Gail said it transported 121.54 million MMSCMD (Million Standard Cubic Meters of Gas per day) of natural gas in Q3, up from 1020.31 MMSCMD in the preceding quarter. Gas marketing volumes also rose 1.2 per cent to 98.14 MMSCMD, up from 96.96 MMSCMD, the company said.

Liquid hydrocarbon sales increased by 2 per cent to 249 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) against 242 TMT, and 247 TMT in the preceding two quarters. Similarly, polymer sales also increased 28 per cent to 215 TMT, up from 168 TMT and 162 TMT respectively in the preceding two quarters.

Gail Chairman & Managing Director Sandeep Kumar Gupta said during the latest quarter, physical performance has improved across all major business verticals. "The petrochemical segment has turned profitable owing to plant efficiency, better capacity utilization & other optimization measures," he said.

He added the company has incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 6,583 crore in the first nine months of FY24, mainly on pipelines, petrochemicals, equity to joint ventures, etc.

Marketing of natural gas earned the company Rs 31,491 crore in Q2, 25 per cent lower than the Rs 42,303 crore earned in Q2 FY23.

Gail's board also approved an interim dividend of 55 per cent for the financial year 2023-24 at Rs 5.50 per equity share.