Q3 Results 2023: IGL reports 11% drop in net profit, IndiGrid net jumps 27% to 120 crore

Q3 Results 2023: Even as India observes 74 anniversary of becoming a Republic and stock markets remain closed today, a couple of listed companies declared their quarterly earnings for the October-December period. While IGL reported an 11 per cent drop in its net profit, infrastructure investment trust IndiGrid's net profit jumped 27 per cent to Rs 120 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2022.   

IGL Q3 Results 2023:  profit drops 11% on holding CNG, piped gas prices

Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the firm that retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital and other cities, reported 11 per cent drop in third quarter net profit after it held retail prices despite rise in input cost.

Consolidated net profit of Rs 334.06 crore in October-December 2022 is compared with Rs 374.76 crore a year back, according to the company's filing with stock exchanges.

The firm saw more than doubling of the cost it incurs on procuring natural gas, which is converted into CNG for sale to automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking purposes.

Revenue from operations soared to Rs 4,089.03 crore in the third quarter of current fiscal year from Rs 2,438.48 crore in the year-ago period.

"For the quarter ending December 2022, IGL registered an overall sales volume growth of 6 per cent over the corresponding quarter in the last fiscal, with the average daily sale going up from 7.66 million standard cubic meters to 8.12 million standard cubic meters per day," a company statement said.

Product wise, CNG recorded sales volume growth of 8 per cent, while piped natural gas (PNG) recorded sales volume growth of 1 per cent in the quarter as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Gross margins declined 4.5 per cent year-on-year and 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

"IGL increased CNG and domestic PNG prices in the third quarter of 2022-23 fiscal on account of the revision in domestic gas prices October 1 onwards. However, these price hikes were not sufficient enough to pass on the increase in gas costs which impacted their margins," ICICI Securities said in a commentary on the earnings.

Going forward, the Kirit Parikh committee has suggested a price band of USD 4-6.5 per million British thermal unit for regulated gas produced within the country.

Spot LNG prices have softened to USD 26 per mmBtu in the current quarter from the elevated level of USD 31 seen in Q3 and the decline in crude prices is likely to bring down the long-term gas prices too.

"All these developments would reduce the sourcing cost for city gas distributors and improve their margins and also likely bring down CNG and PNG prices. Volume growth coupled with steady margins will be key monitorable in the near term," ICICI Securities added.

IGL shares on Wednesday ended at Rs 414, down by Rs 10.20 or 2.40 per cent from the Tuesday closing price.

IndiGrid Q3 Results 2023: Net profit up 27% to Rs 120 crore

India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) has posted 27 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 119.78 crore for December quarter 2022-23.

The infrastructure investment trust logged a net profit of Rs 94.38 crore in the year-ago period, as per a BSE filing.

Total income also increased to Rs 607.06 crore in the quarter from Rs 580.96 crore in the same period a year ago.

Board of Directors of IndiGrid Investment Managers Limited (IIML), acting in the capacity of investment manager to IndiGrid, on Wednesday approved distribution of Rs 3.30 per unit comprising Rs 2.8042 per unit in the form of interest and Rs 0.4958 per unit in the form of principal payment for the quarter.

The record date for this distribution will be January 31, 2023, and payment will be made on or before February 9, 2023.

The board also approved a proposal for raising debt up to Rs 3,700 crore for refinancing opportunities through various sources including term loans, non-convertible debentures, among others.

"We have reported another quarter of strong financial performance with steady YoY (year-on-year ) growth. Our robust operations and steady acquisitions have allowed us to maintain the growth momentum and keep us on track to meet the FY23 distribution guidance of Rs 13.20 per unit," CEO Harsh Shah said in a statement.

IndiGrid owns 16 power projects, consisting of 42 transmission lines with more than 7,790 ckms (circuit km) length, 12 substations with 14,550 MVA transformation capacity and 100 MW (AC) of solar generation capacity.

It has assets under management (AUM) of over Rs 21,200 crore. The investment manager of IndiGrid is wholly owned by KKR.

IndiGrid shares ended at Rs 139.80 on the NSE on Wednesday, up by Rs 0.15, or 0.11 per cent.

Best Agrolife Q3 Results 2023: net profit jumps 98% to Rs 30.61 crore; revenue up 41% at Rs 328 crore

Agro-chemical firm Best Agrolife Ltd has posted a 98 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit to Rs 30.61 crore for the third quarter ended December 2022.

Its net profit stood at Rs 15.47 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

The company's revenue from operations rose 41 per cent to Rs 327.8 crore in the October-December period of this fiscal against Rs 232.5 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director of Best Agrolife, said, "...Despite being a lean season, we successfully managed to remain consistent with its performance in the third quarter of this financial year".

The company has shown growth with a positive outlook across all the business segments during this period, he added.

"We are fully focussed on our global export expansion, which will start reflecting in our revenue growth soon. The company is set to introduce new and exclusive patented products like Ronfen and other different segment products, which will scale up our growth further in the next financial year," Alawadhi said.

During April-December, the net profit rose to Rs 200.55 crore against Rs 66.59 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenue from operations rose to Rs 1,492 crore from Rs 901 crore.

Best Agrolife has 7,000 tonnes per annum and 30,000 tonnes per annum of technicals and formulation manufacturing capacity, respectively, at its three manufacturing plants in Gajaraula, Greater Noida, and Jammu & Kashmir.