Petronet net profit falls 4 as gas volumes drop

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Petronet LNG Ltd on Thursday reported a 4 per cent fall in its September quarter net profit as volumes dropped on a spurt in global natural gas prices.

Consolidated net profit stood at Rs 785.73 crore in July-September as against Rs 817.61 crore a year back, according to a company’s stock exchange filing. Petronet chief executive officer Akshay Kumar Singh during a conference call said global energy rates spurred after the Ukraine war, but rates have begun to soften in the last 10-15 days.

The rise in spot or current market liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices led to volume drop as users couldn’t afford higher rates. Petronet is India’s largest LNG importer and the gas it imports is supplied to fertilizer plants and other industries for use.

Its flagship Dahej terminal in Gujarat processed 182 trillion British thermal units (TBTUs) of LNG during July-September as against 196 TBTU during the previous quarter ended June 30 and 225 TBTU during the corresponding quarter ended September 30, 2021, he said.

The overall LNG volume processed by the company in the current quarter was 192 TBTU as against 240 TBTU a year back. Singh said the company reported the highest-ever turnover of Rs 15,986 crore in the current quarter, as compared to Rs 10,813 crore last year. Due to foreign exchange volatility, the lease liability has an accounting impact of foreign exchange loss amounting to Rs 98 crore.

Singh said the board of directors of the company has approved a special interim dividend of Rs 7 per share. The company board, he said, has accorded investment approval for setting up of floating-based LNG terminal of 4 million tonnes per annum capacity at Gopalpur Port in Odisha at a cost of Rs 2,306 crore.

The terminal, which will be built in 3 years, will at the later date be converted into a land-based facility of 5 million tonnes capacity. This will be the company’s third LNG import terminal in the country and the first on the east coast.

Petronet operates 17.5 million tonnes per annum capacity import facility at Dahej and 5 million tonnes project at Kochi in Kerala. Petronet imports majority of LNG on long-term contract. The delivered price under such contract is USD 12.8 per million British thermal unit at Dahej and USD 13.16 at Kochi as against spot LNG price of USD 21-22.