GAIL Q2 net rises 30% to Rs 924 cr

State gas utility GAIL India today reported a 30 per cent jump in its net profit in the second quarter ended September 30, on the back of higher revenues from transmission and sale of natural gas and better price for liquid hydrocarbons.

Net profit in July-September quarter was Rs 924 crore as against Rs 713 crore in the corresponding period the previous year, GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi told reporters here.

"The increase in net profit was mainly due to higher realisation on liquid hydrocarbons (LPG), increase in transmission of natural gas, trading and margin earned on gas and slight improvement in petrochemical margins," he said.

Revenues from natural gas transmission business increased by 16 per cent to Rs 979 crore, petrochemicals sales expanded by 13 per cent to Rs 721 crore while LPG and liquid hydrocarbons sales jumped 43 per cent to Rs 737 crore.

The sales from natural gas trading increased by 27 per cent to Rs 6,290 crore.

Turnover was up 30 per cent to Rs 8,104 crore as against Rs 6,223 crore in Q2 of the last fiscal.

Tripathi said GAIL has completed first phase of expansion of Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline to increase the company's capacity to move gas from west coast to markets in the north to 35 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) from 24 mmscmd. The expansion costed Rs 980 crore.

In the second phase, a 48-inch parallel line is being laid by April 2011 that will raise the capacity to 75 mmscmd. The profits were up also because of lower subsidy burden GAIL had to bear in the quarter. GAIL's fuel subsidy payout in July-September was Rs 346 crore as against Rs 458 crore a year ago.

Upstream firms Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), GAIL and Oil India met one-third of the revenues fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum lose on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost.

Tripathi said the company city gas subsidiary, GAIL Gas has started retailing CNG and piped natural gas to households in Sonepat in Haryana. This is the third city after Baroda in Gujarat and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh. Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Kota in Rajasthan would follow later this year, he said adding later Agra-Ferozabad would be taken up.

GAIL, he said, has awarded contracts for laying Dabhol to Bangalore and Bangalore to Kochi gas pipelines and first phase is expected to be commissioned by Mardh 2012. The second phase would be commissioned by March 2013.

During the second quarter of the current financial year, the natural gas sales were 79.04 mmscmd as against 81.05 mmsmcd in the corresponding period last year.

GAIL turnover was up 24 per cent to Rs 15,200 crore in the first half of 2010-11 fiscal, while net profit was up 32 per cent at Rs 1,810 crore.

The gross margin increased by 33 per cent to Rs 3,110 crore in the first half of the current financial year, against Rs 2,332 crore a year ago.

During the first half, revenues from natural gas transmission increased 19 per cent to Rs 1,876 crore, petrochemicals sales rose 7 per cent to Rs 1,358 crore and revenues from Liquid Hydrocarbons business soared 26 per cent to Rs 1,518 crore.

Revenues from natural gas trading in April-September rose by 22 per cent to Rs 11,741 crore as against Rs 9,611 crore in the corresponding period of the last year.

The natural gas transmission during the first half of the current financial year was 115.54 mmscmd, up 14 per cent from 101.66 msmcmd last fiscal. Natural Gas sales were up 2 per cent to 81.94 mmscmd.

Tripathi said the company plans to invest Rs 6,200 crore in capital expenditure this fiscal and plans to borrow Rs 4,000 crore in the next to meet expenditure on pipelines and petrochemical businesses.

GAIL, he said, has sourced a cargo of LNG for commissioning of the Dabhol liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.