MRPL Q4 net jumps two fold at Rs 608 cr

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) today reported a more than two fold growth in net profit at Rs 607.62 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009.

The firm had a net profit of Rs 225.33 crore in the March quarter of FY08, MRPL said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company's total income, however, dipped 31 per cent to Rs 6,605.95 crore during the March quarter, from Rs 9,532 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The board has recommended a dividend of 12 per cent at the rate of Rs 1.20 each, on shares of face value of Rs 10 a piece, for the financial year ended March 2009.

In the fourth quarter, MRPL earned $7.54 on processing every barrel of crude, as against $5.56 a barrel in the corresponding quarter last year.

Gross Refining Margin (GRM) for FY09 stood at $5.32 a barrel, as opposed to $6.93 a barrel in the previous year, MRPL Managing Director U K Basu said.

Basu said in 2008-09 the company had suffered huge inventory loss but in the current quarter it is making a marginal inventory gain.

"Already inventory losses are bottomed out and we anticipate no further inventory loss in 2009-10," Basu said.

Basu said MRPL has ended its diesel export contract with Iran and is now selling 40,000 tonnes per month to Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC). The term contract with ENOC runs from March-December'09 and is for 10 parcels of 40,000 tonnes each.

For the financial year ended March 31, MRPL posted a net profit of Rs 1,192.64 crore, a 6.26 per cent dip over the year-ago period. The firm had a net profit of Rs 1,272.23 crore in FY08.

The total income rose 17.21 per cent to Rs 38,430.39 crore during FY09, from Rs 32,786.69 crore in the year-ago period.

Shares of MRPL were trading at Rs 72.25, up 9.97 per cent on the BSE.