State gas utility GAIL India has witnessed a 12.7 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 630.02 crore for the quarter ended March 31,2009,due to lower price realisation and exploration and production cost. The net profit in Q4 was lower than the Rs 722.38 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal,GAIL Chairman and Managing Director U D Choubey said. The turnover,however,increased 24 per cent to Rs 6,104.31 crore in the January-March quarter from Rs 4,935.29 crore earlier. For the 2008-09 fiscal,the company's profit after tax rose 8 per cent to Rs 2,803.7 crore,from Rs 2,601.46 crore in the previous year. "This is despite increase in GAIL's outgo on LPG subsidies to Rs 1,781 crore as against Rs 1,314 crore in the previous year," he said. The gross margin during 2008-09 increased by 8 per cent to Rs 4,851 crore from Rs 4,506 crore. The board of directors has recommended payment of total dividend at the rate of 70 per cent on the enhanced paid-up share capital for FY 2008-09. Choubey said turnover (net of excise duty) in 2008-09 increased by 32 per cent to Rs 23,775.95 crore from Rs 18,008.20 crore in FY 2007-08.
