GAIL’s profit down 69 percent in fourth quarter

New Delhi. Public sector gas company GAIL India Ltd. Net profit fell by 69 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016-17. The reason for this is to write off a large investment of the company in Dabhol power plant. The company’s net profit in the January-March quarter of the last financial year was Rs 260.16 crore, compared to Rs 832.13 crore in the same quarter of the previous year 2015-16.

Gail chairman and managing director BC Tripathi said, “We have taken Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt. Ltd. Invested Rs 783 crore in (running Dabhol power plant).

The decline in net profit would have been more but during this period the company got 489 crore rupees from the share sale through the IPO of Joint Venture Mahanagar Gas. If the said amount is not written off, the company’s net profit would have been Rs 1,043 crore in the January-March 2017 quarter. The company’s business grew 16 percent to Rs 13,644 crore in the quarter under review.

He said that in the entire fiscal year 2016-17, the net profit of the company increased by 57 percent to Rs 3,503 crore. The main reasons for this are the growth in petrochemicals business of the company, increase in profit from gas transmission business and sale of shares in MGL. Tripathi said that GAIL’s board of directors has proposed a dividend of Rs 2.70 per share as the final dividend.