HPCL reports net loss of Rs 325-cr in Q3

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) today reported a net loss of Rs 325.38 crore in the December quarter due to inventory losses.
While the company got full compensation for the revenue loss on LPG and kerosene, the slump in international oil prices meant that an inventory loss of Rs 1,800 crore in October-December, HPCL Director (Finance) K V Rao told reporters here.
The inventory loss compared to an inventory gain of Rs 800 crore in the same quarter of previous fiscal.
The company had posted a net loss of Rs 1,733.91 crore in third quarter of 2013-14 when it did not get fully compensated for fuel losses.

He said the company had lost Rs 3,583 crore in revenue on selling LPG and kerosene at government controlled rates during third quarter. To make up for this, the government gave cash subsidy of Rs 1,139 crore and another Rs 2,447 crore came from upstream firms like ONGC.
"With crude oil moving up, we are expecting no inventory loss during this quarter," he said.
Fuel sales increased 3.7 per cent to 23.76 million tonnes while the refineries at Mumbai and Visakh processed 11.73 million tonnes of crude as against 11.17 million tonnes in the previous year.
The inventory loss meant that the two refineries clocked a negative USD 0.97 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel, down from USD 2.32 a barrel gross refining margin in the same period of the previous year, he said.