PBT Rs. 2,507 crore up by 35%; Gross Margin Rs. 2,894 crore up by 27%
GAIL (India) Limited registered a 33% increase in Profit after Tax (PAT) in the third quarter of Financial Year 2018-19, as against the corresponding quarter in last fiscal mainly due to better performance by Natural Gas (NG) Marketing, NG Transmission, Liquid Hydrocarbon (LHC) and LPG Transmission Segments. The Company’s PAT for the quarter ending 31st December 2018 rose to Rs. 1,681 crore from Rs. 1,262 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. GAIL’s Profit before Tax (PBT) for the third quarter increased by 35% to Rs. 2,507 crore against Rs. 1,858 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.
The increase in net profit in Q3 FY 2018-19 on year on year basis was supported by an increase in Natural Gas Marketing volumes by 9%, LPG Transmission volumes by 11% and Liquid Hydrocarbon Sales by 5%. On a nine months basis, GAIL’s PAT is Rs. 4,903 crore, signifying an increase by 36% against the corresponding period of FY 2017-18.
Shri B C Tripathi, Chairman & Managing Director, GAIL said that in the third quarter, the LHC Segments performed remarkably better than the last quarter due to the better margin in the segment. However, the margins in Natural Gas Trading and Petrochemical segments were under pressure in the quarter. Further on the nine-month basis, the PAT of the Company has already surpassed the yearly PAT of the last fiscal supported by better physical performance in all the business segments.
Shri Tripathi informed that GAIL’s petrochemical unit at Pata has scripted history by being the first in India to produce the value-added Metallocene film grade. Country-wide sales have commenced to quality conscious customers after successful field trials. This move of GAIL would not just provide domestic consumers of a reliable and indigenous supply source but shall help potential forex savings of over USD 100 million annually for India, as per initial estimates.
He said GAIL is expected to achieve Capital expenditure outlay of around Rs. 7,000 crore during 2018-19 which is more than 70% increase from last year. The first phase of prestigious Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project will be completed by the end of this month.
The Company had also declared an interim dividend of Rs 6.25 per equity share (face value of Rs. 10 each) for the financial year FY 2018-19.