GAIL Q3 net up 7% at Rs 387 crore

GAIL (India) said its net profit for the third quarter ending December 2003 grew more than 7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 387 crore.

The company also declared a sales turnover of Rs 3,020 crore in the quarter ended December 2003.

The growth in revenue during the three months has mainly been a contribution of an increase in the sales volume of natural gas, LPG and other liquid hydrocarbons.

GAIL's diversified business interests in telecom, etc are also a contributing factor in the profit, the company said in a statement.

The company also declared an interim dividend at the rate of Rs 4 per equity share of Rs 10 each, amounting to Rs 338.3 crore, the statement added. The sales for the first nine months of the financial year rose 3.83 per cent to Rs 9,026 crore.

Cumulative net profit improved 15 per cent to Rs 1,239 crore (Rs 1,076 crore). Gail (India), which makes a public float in February-March this year to enable the government to disinvest its shares, had a market capitalisation of Rs 22,016 crore on December 31, 2003, as against Rs 12,516 crore on September 30, 2003.

This translates to an increase of more than 75 per cent. Proshanto Banerjee, chairman and managing director of Gail (India), was quoted in the statement as saying: "A positive result reinforces our confidence with respect to future growth."