Petronet LNG gains 5% after June quarter earnings, pares gain later

Total revenue during the quarter came in at Rs 4,951.95 crore, down 43 per cent YoY.

Shares of Petronet LNG gained as much as 5 per cent to Rs 267.70 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday after the company posted an 11 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 499.79 crore for the quarter ended June 2020 (Q1FY21). The company had posted a profit of Rs 561.94 crore in the year-ago period. 

At 09:24 AM, the stock was trading over 2.5 per cent higher at Rs 261 on the BSE. In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was trading 0.5 per cent higher at 38,237.10 levels. Shares of Petronet LNG had hit an all-time high of Rs 302 on September 23, 2019, and their 52-week low level stands at Rs 170.75, hit on March 24.

Profit before tax (PBT) for the company declined 19 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 676.16 crore. Total revenue during the quarter came in at Rs 4,951.95 crore, down 43 per cent against Rs Rs 8,717.85 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. 

Basic earnings per share (EPS) was Rs 3.33 against Rs 3.75 in June 2019 quarter. 

Last week, Petronet LNG, said it invoked the force majeure on nine cargoes after Covid-19 lockdown cut offtake by consumers. The company imports natural gas in its liquid form (LNG) from countries such as Qatar and Australia and pipes it to users such as power plants and fertiliser units after re-converting it into its gaseous state. Petronet invoked the force majeure on eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes of Qatar and one from Exxon for loading from March to May. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

In its report on June 30, Centrum Broking had said that the prospects remain robust for Petronet LNG with a strong demand trajectory coupled with commissioning of 2.5 million tonnes capacity at Dahej and ramp-up in utilisation at Kochi terminal post commissioning of Kochi Mangalore pipeline in July 2020. 

"Having said that, higher competition from new terminals and record low spot LNG prices to create pressure on utilisation for PLNG unless renegotiation with RasGas succeeds. With the renewed uncertainty on the tellurian investment amount, we see limited triggers from here despite comfortable dividend yield of nearly 5 per cent," the brokerage had written in the report. It had an "ADD" call on the stock with the target price of Rs 270.