India’s Petronet LNG reported its highest-ever quarterly profit despite lower volumes at its Dahej and Kochi terminals.
Profit after tax or PAT reached 11.4 billion rupees ($152 million) in the October-December quarter, a rise of 39 percent over the previous quarter and 30 percent when compared to the same period in 2020, Petronet said.
India’s largest LNG importer said its profit before tax or PBT increased 39 percent when compared to the prior quarter and 31 percent year-on-year. PBT reached 15.3 billion rupees ($204.1 million) in the fourth quarter.
Both PAT and PBT were the highest-ever, according to Petronet.
During the quarter, Petronet’s 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal processed 196 TBTU of LNG. This compares to 222 TBTU in the same quarter last year and 225 TBTU in the previous quarter.
Including the 5 mtpa Kochi facility, the overall LNG volumes reached 208 TBTU. Petronet said this compares to 235 TBTU last year and 240 TBTU in the previous quarter.
Petronet also said it has booked “use or pay charges” of 3.47 billion rupees ($46.3) for the calendar year 2021 on account of lower capacity utilization by its customers and recognized the same as income in the profit and loss.
“In spite of the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and high spot prices, the company was able to achieve robust results owing to efficient commercial management,” Petronet said.
At the moment, India imports LNG via six facilities with a combined capacity of 42.5 million tonnes.
LNG imports dropped last year due to very high spot prices. In the April-December period, India paid $8.7 billion for LNG imports, compared to $5.4 billion in the same period in the year before despite a drop of 2.4 percent in volumes.
