Petronet reports 34% rise in Q1 net

Petronet LNG Ltd, India's biggest importer of liquefied natural gas, today reported a 34 per cent jump in its April-June quarter net profit on back of higher gas processing.

Net profit in the first quarter of 2018-19 fiscal at Rs 587 crore was higher than Rs 438 crore net profit in the same period of the previous fiscal, Petronet CEO & Managing Director Prabhat Singh told reporters here.

The profit was higher "because we have done higher volumes and there was increase in re-gassification capacity utilisation," he said.

Petronet's mainstay 15 million tonnes a year facility at Dahej in Gujarat processed 17 per cent higher imported gas at 214 trillion British thermal units at 111 per cent of the capacity. Capacity utilisation in April-June 2017 was 96 per cent.

Its 5 million tonnes a year Kochi terminal in Kerala however had a capacity utilisation of just 10 per cent in absence of pipelines to carry gas to consumers.

"Hopefully, the pipeline would come up by the end of the calendar year which would raise capacity utilisation," he said.

Overall, Petronet processed 14 per cent higher gas volumes at 220 TBtus during the first quarter.

"We have a record profit before tax of Rs 901 crore in the quarter," Singh said.