Q1 volumes have remained the same as in last quarter: Manish Sheth, GSPL

In an interview with ET Now, Manish Sheth, CFO, GSPL, shares his views on the Q1 performance. Excerpts:


ET Now: Firstly if you could just highlight what the quarter gone by has been like in terms of your margins as well as the top and bottom line?

Manish Sheth: Volumes have been the same as they were in the Q4 of last financial year. So, not much change in that. Last quarter we had an impact of tariff implementation which skewed the numbers, but otherwise this quarter is the same in terms of volumes and even margins are almost the same as in last quarter.

ET Now: From April 2014, the gas prices in India poised to go higher. So how will that change life for GSPL?

Manish Sheth: Well, if it helps increase in volumes, certainly GSPL will benefit. So any event which helps consumers absorb more gas in the market will help us.

ET Now: Can you share some numbers with us with the assumption that if the gas prices go up by about 50% from 1st of April 2014 in terms of your total gas volume, tariff, margins, what will change?

Manish Sheth: See it is mostly volumes that we have to watch for mainly because LNG prices have been quite high and differential between domestic prices in LNG has been quite wide. So if that narrows, then certainly some of that should help us in increase in volumes. Otherwise margins are very much in this range what you are seeing right now.

ET Now: Finally, could you also share with us a bit of the cyclical nature of GSPL because historically I have always seen the first tends to be slower than the second half?

Manish Sheth: Well, right now we do not have much cyclical evidence because earlier when power used to be a bigger component for volumes, then in the monsoon power demand used to be lower, which has some cyclical element in it. But now since power is not too much of a component for volumes so now cyclicality is not much.