Gail Falls 3% As Profit Drops for Second Straight Quarter

Gail shares fell as much as 3.6 per cent on Friday as its net profit dropped for the second consecutive quarter. The gas transmission and marketing company reported a net profit of Rs 424 crore in its June quarter, an annual decline of 32 per cent. Its revenue for the quarter fell 6 per cent, profit, hurt by its petrochemical business.
  Analysts polled by NDTV had estimated Gail's net profit at Rs 664 crore on revenues of Rs 14,880 crore. Gail reported earnings after market hours on Thursday.
  What Led to Drop in Q1 Profit: 1) Gail's revenue from the petrochemical segment fell 48 per cent year-on-year to Rs 516 crore. At EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) level, petrochem segment generated a loss of Rs 300 crore, dragging down its overall profits. The company said a plant shutdown accounted for Rs 210 crore of operating loss in the petrochemical business.
  2) Lower-than-expected volume and realisation from the LPG segment also hurt the overall profit. EBIT from the LPG and liquid hydrocarbons segment fell 44 per cent annually to Rs 277 crore and revenue from the segment dropped 26 per cent to Rs 929 crore.
  Gail shares ended 2.46 per cent lower at Rs 361.1 apiece, underperforming the broader Nifty, which closed 0.75 per cent lower.