Petronet LNG posted a strong set of second quarter earnings with a 28 percent increase in profits to Rs 589 crore versus Rs 459.56 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of the company was at Rs 898.7 crore and EBIDTA margin was at 11.6 percent.
Prabhat Singh, MD & CEO, Petronet LNG told CNBC-TV18 that this has by far been the best quarter. The demand in the quarter for LNG was up and the prices were low, so they benefited because of that. Moreover, the terminal also was available to serve the demand, he added.
The Q2 has reported highest ever LNG processed by company. Its Dahej terminal processed highest ever volume with capacity utilisation at 110 percent. The Kochi terminal is operating at 16 percent capacity.
Singh said Dahej did so well that it overshadowed Kochi, but if one were to look at Kochi from the Q2 of last fiscal then it has done 150 percent higher.
Going forward, the company is glad that the refinery of BPCL has got commissioned and expansion is on, and they are drawing around 2.2 million cubic meters a day, said Singh, adding that along with that FACT have also been drawing 0.8 million cubic meters a day from Kochi terminal. Therefore, overall 16 percent of Kochi terminal utilisation is happening.
Kochi terminal earlier was making losses but not it is making operational profits. Going forward utilisation of Kochi terminal is likely to remain around 15-16 percent, said Singh. With regards to Kochi, the company has also let out one tank and so earning rent on that.
The company is taking other steps also to keep the terminal in operating profits. However, once the Kochi-Mangalore pipeline is done, profits will go up, said Singh, adding that the pipeline is expected by 2018-end. This could lead to capacity utilisation of 40 percent of Kochi pipeline then the terminal could make around Rs 200-250 crore of profits as against the losses.
Talking about LNG busses, he said they had several meetings in Gujarat and have plans of running at least 20 busses on a showcase basis to prove that LNG is a reality. Similarly, around 10 busses would run in Kerala.
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