Adani Total Gas Ltd, the city gas joint venture of Adani Group and French energy giant Total, on Tuesday reported a 19 per cent rise in its March quarter net profit as the firm expanded operations in newer geographies, resulting in higher sales volumes. Net profit in the January-March quarter of FY21 was Rs 145 crore compared to Rs 122 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, company CEO Suresh P Manglani said on a media call.
"This is the third successive quarter of highest ever financial performance with robust physical infrastructure growth despite ongoing pandemic," he said. While the company had seen volumes of CNG sold to automobiles and piped natural gas to households and industries recovered to pre-Covid level in the second half of 2020-21, the resurgence of the pandemic has marginally hurt demand.
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"Gas demand has fallen as certain geographies are under lockdown," he said adding this dip is particularly in sale of CNG and industrial fuel. He, however, exuded confidence that the moment pandemic recedes, the lost volumes will be recovered. "There is some decline in volume. We will compensate the decline in times of come."
The company sold 14 per cent more gas at 166 million standard cubic meters of gas (75 mmscm CNG and 91 mmscm piped natural gas) in the January-March quarter. For the full year (April 2020 to March 2021), which was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown pummelling economic activity, sales volume was down 12 per cent at 515 mmscm. CGN sales were down 22 per cent in the year, he said.
For FY21, net profit was up 8 per cent at Rs 472 crore. "Average volume in the fourth quarter of FY21 increased to 1.85 million standard cubic meters per day as compared to average volume of 1.6 mmscmd in the third quarter of FY21 showing recovery of 11 per cent on quarter-on-quarter basis," he said.
The firm has started operations in 14 out of the 15 geographical areas (GAs) it had won in recent licensing rounds. It added 102 CNG stations in the year taking the total number to 217 while piped cooking gas connections increased by nearly 41,000 to 4.78 lakh. Manglani said, "With pandemic onslaught, it's been a challenging year for the nation and city gas distribution (CGD) industry too. The key thrust of the Adani-Total Gas has been to continue to supply piped natural gas and CNG, and safely handle all operations and emergencies 24×7."
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