Petronet LNG profit falls 18% YoY to Rs 614 crore in Jan-Mar quarter

New Delhi: Petronet LNG’s profit fell 18% year-on-year to Rs 614 crore in the January-March quarter as higher global gas prices reduced the country’s imports and curtailed utilization of the company’s import terminals.

The company’s profit was Rs 750 crore in the year-ago quarter and Rs 1,181 crore in the October-December period. Income from operations rose 24% year-on-year to Rs 13,874 crore in the Jan-March period on higher gas costs.

The auditors flagged that the company had booked income towards "use or pay charges" of Rs 849 crore in the financial year 2022-23, which is yet to be received. Customers have a contractual obligation to pay for the regasification capacity they book even if left unused and so the company is confident of receiving the payment, Petronet said.

The overall LNG volume processed by the company in the Jan-March quarter was 185 trillion British thermal unit (TBTU), as against 167 TBTU in the previous and 190 TBTU in the corresponding quarters.
The softening of liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices in the international spot market has begun to boost imports and capacity utilization of regasification terminals, Petronet LNG managing director Akshay Kumar Singh said. The utilization of Petronet’s Dahej terminal, the country's busiest, has risen to 97% in April from 77% in the Jan-March quarter, he added.

Big customers such as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) may switch back to natural gas from liquid fuel which they adopted after LNG prices skyrocketed last year, Singh said. Ahead of earnings on Wednesday, shares in Petronet LNG closed little changed at Rs 236.75. The benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.26% lower.