Cheaper natural gas pushes IGL's Q3 consolidated net up 28% to Rs 382 cr

Total income declines 13.5% YoY to Rs 1,621 cr; firm says it is meeting fuel needs of over 1.2 mn CNG vehicles in NCR through a network of 560 CNG stations

Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) has reported a Rs 381.83 crore consolidated net profit during the third quarter of financial year 2020-2021. This is 28.40 per cent higher than the consolidated net profit reported by the company in the same quarter of FY 2019-2020. The higher profit is on the back of lower natural gas purchase costs that form a large chunk of the company’s expenses.

IGL spent Rs 606.29 crore for purchases of stock-in-trade of natural gas during the period under review. This is 36 per cent lower than the Rs 940.69 crore it had spent in the same period a year ago. This pulled down total expenses by 22 per cent to Rs 1,172.46 crore in Q3 FY 2020-2021 from Rs 1,511.73 crore in the comparable quarter of FY20.

This gain is driven by lowering of domestic natural gas prices by the centre and muted spot Liquefied Natural Gas prices in this period.

Total income during the quarter ended December 31, 2020 declined 13.5 per cent to Rs 1,621 crore, from Rs 1,874.95 crore in the quarter ending December 31, 2019.

 

“IGL registered average daily sale of 6.26 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in the quarter as most of the lockdown restrictions started getting relaxed except reopening of educational institutions. The total gross sales value during the quarter was Rs 1587.36 crore against Rs 1831.16 crore during the third quarter of FY 2020-2021,” the company said.

“Both physical and financial performance of the company reflect a strong recovery after the second quarter due to gradual easing of restrictions and beginning of unlock period leading to increased economic activity. Sales have picked up steadily and presently have touched pre-lockdown levels,” the company added.

IGL is the primary supplier of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the National Capital Territory of Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). Its city gas distribution infrastructure consists of over 15000 Kms of pipeline network.

IGL said that it is meeting fuel requirements of over 1.2 million vehicles running on CNG in NCR through a network of 560 CNG stations. IGL is supplying PNG to nearly 1.6 million households in these cities. The pipeline network is being further expanded by IGL to cover Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand in Rajasthan, Shamli, parts of Meerut, Hamirpur and parts of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Shares of the company closed 0.31 per cent lower at Rs 555.05 a scrip during trade on Wednesday.