Indian gas major records profit of Rs 16 B

Friday, 02 May 2003, 19:30 IST
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India's gas infrastructure major GAIL (India) Limited has recorded a net profit of 16.07 billion in 2002-03, an increase of 26.19 percent over profits in the previous fiscal.

NEW DELHI: The company maintained its performance during the fourth quarter of 2002-03, recording growth in both sales and profits, according to a statement issued Thursday. Its net profit in the last fiscal was 11.86 billion. Including internal consumption, GAIL's sales during the fourth quarter increased to 30.77 billion from 26.83 billion. The company's net profit increased by 58 percent to 5.31 billion against 3.36 billion in the corresponding previous quarter. "The main contribution to the increased turnover has been from an increase in the volumes of gas handled from KG Basin fields (on the east coast), increase in polymer and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales, LPG handling through the Jamnagar-Loni pipeline system and sale of other liquid hydrocarbons and better sales realisation from LPG," GAIL said. For the fiscal year ended March 31, GAIL recorded a gain in both turnover and operating margins. According to provisional figures, turnover for the year, including internal consumption, reached a record 117.71 billion against 105.73 billion in 2001-02. Gross margin increased to 33.47 billion in 2002-03 against 26.36 billion in the previous year. Natural gas continues to constitute the core business of GAIL, which is to be included in the Standard & Poor CNX Nifty from May 2 and the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index from June 1. The state-owned company, currently the only gas transporter, handled 63.25 million standard cubic metres a day (MMSCMD) of gas during 2002-03 as against 61.60 MMSCMD in the previous year. With an exposure also in petrochemicals, GAIL recorded total liquid hydrocarbon production, including LPG, of over 1.31 million metric tonnes as compared to the previous year's production of 1.13 million metric tonnes, an increase of 16 percent. During 2002-2003, GAIL sold 290,000 tonnes of polymer as against 251,000 tonnes in the previous year.
Source: IANS