Petronet reports highest quarterly net profit in Q4 on getting offtake default fee
New Delhi:
Petronet
LNG Ltd, India biggest
gas importer
, on Monday reported its highest-ever quarterly profit during January-March after gas off-takers paid for volumes they had defaulted on previously. Net profit of ₹1,070.18 crore in January-March - the fourth quarter of April 2024 to March 2025 fiscal - was 23.4 per cent higher than ₹737.68 crore earning a year back, according to a company's stock exchange filing.
The company received ₹360.94 crore in use or pay charges from offtakers for the volumes that they had committed to bring at the import terminals but did not bring since 2021.
With domestic production of natural gas - used to generate electricity, produce fertilizer and turned into CNG to run automobiles and used in kitchens for cooking - barely meeting half of the country's demand, the fuel is imported as LNG. LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to about minus 162 degrees Celsius to turn it into a liquid. This reduces its volume by about 600 times, making it much easier and more cost-effective to store and transport by ships.
Petronet processed 205 trillion British thermal unit in Q4, down from 234 TBtus a year back and 228 TBtus in the preceding quarter, company CEO and Managing Director A K Singh told reporters in an earnings call.
The lower volumes were due to less spot or current market priced liquefied natural gas (LNG) being imported due to high prices.
While the price of LNG bought under long-term contracts is in the range of USD 11 per million British thermal unit, the spot price was USD 14-15. This "impacted the flow" of spot cargoes, he said.
The price is "narrowing down (in the current quarter) to USD 11-11.5 per mmBtu. It is expected that things will improve," he said.
On expansion of the firm's mainstay Dahej import facility in Gujarat, Singh said the commissioning of expanded capacity has been pushed to July/August "because of some loss of productivity after heightened security measures were imposed (in view of armed conflict with Pakistan) and the expansion project being undertaken within an operational plant area which imposes safety restrictions."
Petronet was to originally expand Dahej capacity to 22.5 million tonnes from current 17.5 million tonnes by March 2025. The March deadline, he said, was a "stretched target" to get the expansion completed earlier and June 2025 was the actual target.
"We are catching up very fast... 90 per cent progress is already achieved," he said.
Singh said Petronet posted a record profit of ₹3,926.37 crore in the 2024-25 (FY25) fiscal, up from ₹3,536.20 crore in the previous year.
The company processed 934 TBtus of LNG in the fiscal, up from 919 TBtus in FY24.
In the notes to the accounts, Petronet said trade receivables as of March 31, 2025 include 'use-or-pay' (UoP) dues of ₹1,421.56 crore (gross) (₹952.41 crore (net) after making a provision of ₹469.15 crore).
"These dues have arisen due to lower capacity utilisation by customers under long-term regasification agreements entered into by the company. These UoP dues pertain to FY 2022-23 (calendar year 2022): ₹694.29 crore, FY 2023-24 (CY 2023): ₹610,00 crore, and FY 2024-25 (CY 2024): Rs. 117.27 crore," it said.
UoP charges rise when a customer or offtaker of gas commits to using the import facility but fails to bring in the promised volumes.
"During FY 2023-24, the (Petronet) Board approved a recovery mechanism for UoP dues relating to CY 2021 and CY 2022, in accordance with agreements reached with customers. As part of this arrangement, the company received ₹360.94 crore against CY 2021 dues during the current quarter (Q4) and year (FY25)," it said.
Some of the customers have brought LNG quantities up to March 31, 2025, for which revenue has been recognised at the prevailing regasification rate. Correspondingly, the company has waived off UoP dues amounting to ₹183.71 crore in FY25, which consists of ₹32.71 crore for CY 2021 and ₹151 crore for CY 2022.
The company has also obtained bank guarantees from customers to secure recovery of these dues.
"The Board, at its meeting held on January 27, 2025, approved a recovery mechanism for UoP dues pertaining to CY 2023, in line with the earlier years. The company is in the process of implementing this mechanism, which includes securing bank guarantees from customers," it said. "While some customers have not provided balance confirmations for the UoP dues, management remains confident of recovery, as the amounts are contractually obligated."
As a measure of prudence, the company has made a time-based provision of ₹469.15 crore as of March 31, 2025 (₹358.02 crore as of March 31, 2024).
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