Cairn India

On face value, the company posted a set of very strong numbers for Q3FY13 and post the numbers, the market had reacted by posting even stronger gains on the counter.  But digging into the numbers, it was evident that the forex gain had helped bolster the performance or else it would have been a damp squib. The company posted a consolidated net profit at Rs.3345 crore, marking a 44% rise on QoQ. This was despite a 4% drop in consolidated income at Rs.4278 crore, post profit sharing with the Govt of India and the Rajasthan block royalty expense..  EBITDA was down 5% at Rs.3,258crore. As against a forex loss of Rs.786 crore in Q2FY13, in current Q3, it posted a forex gain of Rs.236 crore and this gain helped boost the bottomline.

Cairn India has a portfolio of ten blocks, located in four strategically focused areas: one in Rajasthan; two on the west coast of India; six on the east coast of India (including one in Sri Lanka) and one in South Africa. Out of these, nine blocks, including the three that are in production, are operated by Cairn India. The blocks are located in the Barmer Basin, Krishna-Godavari Basin, the Palar-Pennar Basin, the Cambay Basin, the Mumbai Offshore Basin in India, the frontier Mannar Basin in Sri Lanka and the Orange Basin in South Africa.

The average gross output in Oct-Dec was up 21% (YoY) at 205,014 bpd and the Rajasthan block October-December average output was at 169,977 bpd. The Ravva field has produced more than 251 mm bbls of crude and sold 314 billion cubic feet of gas, more than double its initial estimates. During the quarter, the plant uptime was 99.5%. The company has cut the Rajasthan production guidance to 200000-215000 bpd by FY14-end and expects production to ramp up to 40,000 bpd in Bhagyam only by mid-FY14. The company plans to drill additional 100 wells for new exploration in Rajasthan and for FY14 and FY15 has planned on a capex of US$2 billion. The cash flow from operations is at Rs.2695 crore, up 26% in YoY. Its balance sheet remains strong with net cash of Rs.14604 crore as on 31 December, 2012. Its Aishwariya field development is on track and the company expects commencement of production by end of FY13. Its Mangala EOR polymer pilot was successful and full field implementation will result in plateau extension while EOR ASP pilot expected to begin by Q1 FY14.