MRPL net profit drops 80% on lower refining margin

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) today reported an 80% drop in its September quarter net profit as earnings from processing crude oil declined.

Profit in July-September fell to Rs 236 crore from Rs 1,185 crore in the same period last year, MRPL said in a press statement here.

MRPL, a subsidiary of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, earned $5.04 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel compared with a gross refining margin of $9.19 per barrel in Q2 of 2012-13.

Also, the company lost Rs 249 crore in the three-month period due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations compared with a Rs 284 crore gain a year earlier.

Turnover rose 14% to Rs 19,554 crore on the back of a 38% surge in exports. Overseas sales rose to Rs 10,288 crore from Rs 7,474 crore.

In volume terms, the company exported 23% more fuel at 1.91 million tons in Q2 of the current fiscal.

The company processed 3.69 million tons of crude oil in the quarter, marginally higher than 3.59 million tons a year ago.

In the April-September period, MRPL reported a net loss of Rs 218 crore compared with Rs 335 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Refining margins for the six-month period were up 27% to $3.98 per barrel.

Turnover increased to Rs 35,688 crore from Rs 30,613 crore, primarily due to a 28% jump in exports to Rs 17,216 crore.

In volume terms, exports rose 19% to 3.46 million tons in the first half of the current fiscal.