May 21 (Reuters) - Gas distributor GAIL (India) posted a fourth-quarter profit fall on Thursday, as the Middle East conflict hampered supply.
o GAIL, India's top natural gas distributor by market share, said its net profit after tax fell 38.4% to 12.62 billion rupees ($131.2 million) for the quarter ended March 31.
o Indian gas distributors were expected to be hurt by a 5% year-on-year fall in domestic gas consumption in the fourth quarter, analysts at Ambit Capital said.
o Non-availability of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and the Middle East led to industrial customers cutting down consumption.
o Gas supply from Qatar, India's largest LNG supplier, was halted in March following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran struck two of Qatar's 14 LNG production trains, forcing it to declare force majeure.
o GAIL's revenue from operations fell 2.5% to 347.97 billion rupees.
o The gas marketing segment, GAIL's largest revenue contributor through wholesale trading and natural gas distribution, reported a 1.2% fall to 312.13 billion rupees.
o Revenue from its petrochemicals segment fell 15.4%, while its natural gas transmission segment, through which GAIL holds a 70% market share in the country, rose 11.6%.
o GAIL supplies more than 50% of the natural gas sold in the country and primarily serves the power and fertilizer sectors.
o The firm's expenses climbed 2% to 342.43 billion rupees.
o GAIL's shares closed 0.2% higher ahead of the results.
($1 = 96.2000 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
