Hindustan Petroleum posts consolidated net loss of Rs 2,172 crore in Q2

In a sharp fall in fortunes, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,172.14 crore in Q2 FY23 (2022-23) as against a net profit of Rs 1,923.51 crore in Q2 FY22. The company blamed depressed marketing margins on motor fuels and LPG as the main reason for its profitability being impacted over the latest quarter.

Sequentially, the July-September quarter represented the second straight quarterly loss for the company despite revenue rising 30 per cent to Rs 1.13 trillion.

Net sales (excluding excise duty) jumped 30.5 per cent to Rs 1.08 trillion in the latest quarter, up from Rs 82,774 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

However, total expenses also increased by 36.6 per cent YoY to Rs 1.17 trillion in Q2, due to higher raw material costs which went up 2.6 times YoY, the company said on Thursday. Higher costs of purchases of stock-in-trade, up 9.2 per cent YoY over the quarter, also contributed to this.

The company reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 2,893 crore in Q2 FY23 as compared to a profit before tax of Rs 2,361.24 crore reported in Q2 FY22.

HPCL suffered a loss despite taking into account a one-time grant the Centre had announced on October 12 for oil majors to make up for the losses incurred on selling cooking gas LPG below its cost in the last two years. In its quarterly report, HPCL acknowledged it had received Rs 5,617 crore “to compensate under-recoveries incurred on the sale of domestic LPG during the financial year 2021-22 and current period”.

While domestic sales rose 12.3 per cent to 9.87 MMT, exports improved 67.7 per cent to 0.52 MMT in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.