Nation’s largest liquid gas importer, Petronet LNG Ltd., reported better than the expected profits in the April-June quarter. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, operations were impacted but a quicker recovery is noted in the end of the quarter.
The company in a regulatory filing said, The net profit stood at Rs 520.23 crore, or Rs 3.47 per share, which was 7.1% lower than the net profit in the same period a year back of Rs 560.27 crore, or Rs 3.74 a share. Revenue in June quarter, fell by 43% to Rs 4951.9 crore and imports during the quarter was majorly impacted due to the nationwide lockdown imposed on 25, March.
The standalone net profit expected from Analysts was around Rs 490 crore and the company has crossed or well. ICICI Securities commenting on the earnings said, “despite 55-60 per cent utilisation in Dahej in April, Petronet managed 83 per cent utilisation in Q1 suggesting a quick recovery through the rest of Q1.”
Petronet’s average gas send-out was 17.5 million tonnes a year. Dahej LNG import terminal capacity fell by less than 60% in April, as compared to 88% in the previous month. A gradual recovery in the demand is noted after the first week of June when the unlock was started. During Jan-Feb period the average send-out at the Dahej terminal was around 58 mmscmd (92 per cent of the capacity) and at the Kochi terminal, it was 3.57 million standard cubic meters per day at 5 million tonnes a year.