HPCL's Q2 net up 148% on inventory gain, more throughput

State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) on Thursday posted a massive 147.5 per cent jump in its net profit for the second quarter ending September at Rs 1,735 crore, buoyed by higher crude throughput and inventory gains.

The oil marketer had registered a net profit of Rs 701.32 crore during the same period of the last financial year.

"One of the major reasons for a higher net profit was due to higher inventory gains of Rs 792 crore during the second quarter, compared to Rs 550 crore inventory loss during the same period in 2016-17," HPCL Chairman M.K. Surana said here.

"We also had higher throughput, better refinery margin and higher domestic market sales during the quarter," he said.

Total income increased by 13.41 per cent to Rs 54,855.19 crore during the quarter under review. HPCL had reported a total income of Rs 48,369.40 crore in the same period last year.

The company's gross refining margin (GRM) on turning each barrel of crude into petroleum products during the quarter in consideration more than doubled to $7.61 per barrel from $3.23 in the corresponding period last year mainly due to improved distillate yield and better product cracks.

HPCL recorded its highest ever quarterly net sales in July-September at Rs 54,153 crore, as against Rs 47,750 crore during the same quarter in 2016.

Domestic sales of petroleum products during the quarter rose to 8.37 million tonnes (MT), registering a growth of 4.6 per cent over the corresponding quarter of last year.

The HPCL refineries here and at Visakhakapatnam processed 4.64 MT of crude during the second quarter, as compared to 4.05 MT refined in the same period last year.

The company also announced it has won an arbitration award of Rs 444 crore with Malaysia's M3nergy Berhad. HPCL had initiated an international arbitration against the Malaysian firm in 2009 over termination of a contract for the development of an offshore oilfield in Mumbai.

"We will be getting an interest of 9 per cent over and above Rs 444 crore, starting from 2009," Surana said.

With results coming in during market hours, the HPCL stock closed at Rs 431.30 a share, down Rs 4, or by 0.92 per cent, on its previous close on the BSE.

--IANS

bc/vd