Gujarat Gas gains following industrial gas price hike

Shares of state-run Gujarat Gas Limited climbed over 2 percent in morning trade on August 21, reaching Rs 462. This rise followed a Rs 2.50 price hike in industrial gas. The new price has been set at Rs 40.83 per standard cubic meter (SCM) and takes effect from today, as reported by CNBC-TV18.

The development gains significance as this is the first price increase for industrial gas by Gujarat Gas after five consecutive price cuts in 2023. According to CNBC TV-18 sources, the price increase is due to increased spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices.

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In early August, the company reported a 43.4 percent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 216 crore in the first quarter of the financial year 2023-24. The city gas distribution company had clocked a consolidated net profit of Rs 382 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations also tanked 26.2 percent at Rs 3,924 crore from Rs 5,322 crore in the year-ago period. The reduction in revenue from operations mainly reflects lower selling prices, the company said in a press release.

Gujarat Gas said that its total gas sales volume for the quarter stood at 9.22 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic meters per day), compared to 8.8 MMSCMD in the preceding quarter. Industrial volume increased 10 percent from the earlier quarter (Q4FY23) to 5.88 MMSCMD.

The company said the increase in industrial volume was due to softer spot LNG prices, the benefit of which was passed to industrial customers to make natural gas more competitive to alternate fuels.

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