GAIL India shares rose 6 percent on Tuesday on robust Q3 results and positive brokerage views. The company posted a 12.93 percent year-on-year rise in consolidated profit at Rs 2,029.51 crore for the quarter ended December 31. The gas major had posted a profit of Rs 1,797.04 crore in the same period last year.

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Consolidated revenue, however, declined 11.52 percent to Rs 17,898.16 crore during the quarter under review. The board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 6.40 per share on the face value of Rs 10 each, amounting to Rs 2,886.49 crore.

Post the December-quarter results global brokerages CLSA, Credit Suisse and Jefferies sounded bullish on the stock. CLSA had a 'buy' call on the stocks, while, Credit Suisse maintained its 'outperform' call.

According to CLSA, the profit was 11 percent ahead of expectations and all segments other than LPG production outperformed forecasts. It also noted that Q4 performance should also not vary much quarter-on-quarter due to effective hedging. Higher gas transmission volume, 50 percent cut in domestic gas price, the inclusion of gas in the goods and services tax (GST) regime and change to a unified tariff regime are key triggers for the stock, according to CLSA.

Credit Suisse believes that transmission volume growth pick-up can drive re-rating. It also noted that the December-quarter beat the Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) by 14 percent due to a higher margin in gas trading and petchem segments.

Jefferies also said that the company's performance was strong across all segments. It raised FY20 EPS estimates for the company by 5 percent to reflect the strong Q3.

The stock rose as much as 6.6 percent in intra-day deals to Rs 129.85 per share on BSE. It settled 5.9 percent higher at Rs 129 as compared to a 0.6 percent or 236 points rise in BSE Sensex at 41,216.

First Published:Feb 11, 2020 10:47 AM IST