Gujarat Gas Company Ltd has reported a 29 per cent increase in annual sales and 5 per cent rise in net profit for the calendar year 2012, ended December 31, 2012, as compared to the corresponding period the year before.
The consolidated net sales for 2012 were Rs 3,066 crore (Rs 2,381 crore). The total volume of gas sold during the period was 1,157 million standard cubic metres, or mscm, (1,246 mscm). The consolidated PAT increased from Rs 274.8 crore to Rs 288.5 crore, Sugata Sircar, Managing Director, said here.
He said the consolidated net sales for the quarter ended December 31, 2012, were Rs 756.5 crore (Rs 641.5 crore) while the consolidated PAT was Rs 70.6 crore (Rs 25 crore).
The impact on profits due to increase in gas cost in the previous year was mostly mitigated in 2012. The total volume of gas sold during the quarter was 270 mscm (314 mscm). Volumes in the industrial segment have been undergoing a churn with increasing price of gas.
The company connected 7,300 residential customers and converted about 5,100 vehicles to CNG during the quarter in addition to commissioning additional volumes in the industrial sector, he said.
GGCL’s distribution network has been extended by laying 59 km of additional steel pipelines in 2012. Eight new CNG stations were commissioned, about 34,600 residences have been connected and more than 23,400 vehicles converted to CNG during 2012. Volumes in certain industrial segments have been impacted by rising cost of gas and resultant increase in gas prices. However, more than 250,000 scm per day of additional industrial volumes were commissioned during the year. The cost of RLNG has increased sharply in Q4, 2012, which had a significant impact on GGCL’s costs, as RLNG constitutes 47 per cent of the sourcing mix.
The company had received authorisation from the sectoral regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for the city gas distribution areas of Surat, Bharuch and Ankleshwar.
GGCL, a subsidiary of BG Group plc (65.12 per cent), currently distributes approximately 3.2 mscmd of natural gas. India’s largest private sector gas distribution company in terms of sales volume, it distributes gas to the entire range of customers, that is, industrial, commercial, domestic and CNG. GGCL distributes gas to about 3,75,500 industrial, commercial and domestic customers through its pipeline network and CNG to over 1,92,100 vehicles through 54 retail outlets.
On October 3, 2012, the company’s majority shareholder, BG Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd (BGAPH), had reached agreement with GSPC Distribution Networks Ltd (GDNL), for sale of its entire shareholding in GGCL. BGAPH’s shares will be transferred to GDNL after the satisfaction of conditions in the agreement.