Chennai Petroleum freezes in 20% upper circuit on healthy Q2 results

Shares of Chennai Petroleum Corporation were locked in the 20 per cent upper circuit band at Rs 81.35 on the BSE on Thursday after it reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 291 crore for September quarter (Q2FY21). The company, engaged in petroleum sector, had posted a loss of Rs 213 crore in Q2FY20.

For the period April – September'2020 Gross Refining Margin was US$ 9.70 per bbl against $2.03 per bbl for the same period last fiscal. The average gross refining margins (GRM) were healthy mainly due to favourable increase in prices of crude and products. 

Consolidated Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the quarter stood at Rs 608 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 115 crore in Q2FY20. The sharp improvement in Ebitda was driven by lower crude prices and inventory gains during the quarter, the management said in a statement.

The company's operating revenue, however, fell 20.1 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs 9,733 crore in Q2FY21. Crude throughput was down 20 per cent YoY to 2.1 MMT.

The management said the demand for fuel products was lower during the first half of current fiscal due to Covid-19 related lock down, resulting in lower crude throughput. The capacity utilization gradually improved during the current quarter.

The counter saw huge trading activities today. Till 02:53 pm, a combined 16.6 million equity shares had changed hands on the counter, as compared to an average sub 2 million shares traded on the BSE and NSE in the past two weeks.