HPCL reports Rs 1,734-cr net loss in Dec quarter

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) today reported a net loss of Rs 1,734 crore in the December quarter after the government paid less than half of the due oil subsidy.
HPCL had posted a net profit of Rs 147 crore in the same period a year ago.
The company posted losses "mainly on account of higher absorption of under-recoveries on sale of sensitive petroleum products," HPCL Director (Finance) K V Rao said.
HPCL absorbed Rs 3,192 crore after the government paid only Rs 2,328 crore subsidy for selling diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene at rates lower than cost.

The company had lost Rs 9,245 crore on selling diesel and cooking fuel below cost in third quarter this fiscal. It got Rs 3,705 crore from upstream firms like ONGC and Rs 2,328 crore from government, leaving an unmet gap of Rs 3,195 crore, he said.
Sales rose to Rs 57,753 crore in October - December, 2013 from Rs 55,165 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The domestic sales of petroleum products rose by 5 per cent to 7.7 million tonnes as against the industry average growth of 1.6 per cent.
The sales of petrol increased by 9.4 per cent and that of diesel by 3.7 per cent over the third quarter of the previous year - the highest growth rates among the PSU oil marketing companies (OMCs).

The company's refineries at Mumbai and Visakh processed 3.84 million tonnes of crude during October - December, 2013.
The company earned USD 2.32 on converting every barrel of crude oil into fuel as against a gross refining margin of USD 1.92 per barrel.
The sales during the nine-month period i.E. April-December 2013 increased to Rs 1,65,449 crore registering a growth of 9 per cent.
The net loss during this period was lower at Rs 2,875 crore as compared to loss of Rs 6,775 crore in the April-December 2012 period mainly due to lower absorption of under-recoveries on sale of sensitive petroleum products.

HPCL is currently implementing four pipelines -- Rewari-Kanpur, Awa-Salawas, Uran-Chakan / Shikrapur and Mangalore-Hassan-Mysore.