HPCL posts Rs 2,089.61 cr profit

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) today announced a net profit of Rs 2,089.6 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, compared with a loss of Rs 136.7 crore in the same period last year. The company reported profit on the back of Rs 2,832.2 crore subsidy support from the government.

The company said in a statement that its 9-million tonne joint venture refinery at Bathinda, being constructed by HPCL– Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), has achieved about 90 per cent progress and would be completing mechanical completion by May 2011.

The profit after tax for the April-September 2010 period was Rs 205 crore, as against Rs 512 crore for April-September 2009. HPCL had to absorb underrecoveries on sale of sensitive petroleum products amounting to Rs 1,723 crore during the period April-September.

The interest cost for the period was lower at Rs 417 crore, as compared to Rs 520 crore during the same period of previous year. The decrease in interest cost was due to effective treasury management as also liquidity in the market.

The company registered a turnover of Rs 61,002 crore for April–September 2010 as against Rs 51,687 crore in the corresponding previous period, an increase of 18 per cent. The domestic sales of petroleum products have increased to 12.39 million tonnes, registering growth of above 3.6 per cent over the same period of previous year, as against the industry average growth of 1.7 per cent. The sales of petrol increased by 13 per cent and that of diesel by 8.4 per cent over the first half of the previous year.