BPCL sizzles on buzz Govt mulls exit

BPCL rose 5.11% to Rs 494.05 on reports that a government panel of secretaries on Monday proposed to privatise the state-run company.

The proposal for the strategic sale, or privatisation, will now be taken up by the Union cabinet. Apart from the cabinet clearance, the sale of BPCL needs to be approved by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as the company was formed by an act of Parliament.

As on 30 June 2019, the government holds a 54.16% stake in BPCL.

The privatisation of BPCL will help the government in meeting at least a third of its Rs 1.05-lakh-crore divestment target.

Shares of BPCL gained 5.19% in two trading sessions to its current market price of Rs 494.05, from a recent closing low of Rs 469.65 on 27 September 2019.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 361.92 points or 0.94% to 38,305.41.

On the BSE, 17.82 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 10.21 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs 511.50, which is also a 52-week high for the counter. It hit an intraday low of Rs 479.15 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 239 on 5 October 2018.

BPCL's consolidated net profit fell 44.1% to Rs 1,623.75 crore on a 6.3% increase in net sales to Rs 76,325.39 crore in Q1 June 2019 compared with Q1 June 2018.

BPCL is engaged in offering motor spirit (MS), high speed diesel (HSD) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The PSU is engaged in the business of refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products. It operates through two segments: downstream petroleum, and exploration and production of hydrocarbons (E&P).

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