Petronet LNG Q4 Results: Profit Drops 22% On Lower Operating Margin

Petronet LNG Ltd. reported a drop in net profit for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 on account of lower operating margins, even as revenue from operations rose.

The LNG distributor reported a drop of 21.76% year-on-year in the net profit for the January–March quarter to Rs 618.80 crore as the operating margin fell 368 basis points on year to 6.79% on higher expenses.

• The cost of materials consumed for the period rose to Rs 12,637 crore from Rs 9,783 crore a year ago.

• The finance cost rose to Rs 90.2 crore from Rs 80.3 crore a year ago.

• Revenue from operations for the period was up 24.3% to Rs 13,874 crore.

Under long-term regasification contracts entered by the holding company, an income towards "use or pay charges" of Rs 848.92 crore in fiscal 2023 has been recognised on account of lower capacity utilisation by its customers, the company said.

"The management is confident that the payment would be recovered in due course, being a contractual obligation," it said in a profit-and-loss note.

The company has also recommended a final dividend of Rs 3 per equity share.

Shares of Petronet LNG closed 0.11% lower on the BSE, even as the benchmark Sensex was down 0.26% on Wednesday.