BPCL second-quarter profit almost halved by refinery fire, misses estimates

(Reuters) - Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd's profit nearly halved in the second quarter, well below analysts' expectations, after a unit at its Mumbai refinery was closed by a fire.

Profit in Bharat Petroleum's fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 was 12.18 billion Indian rupees ($166 million), down from 23.57 billion rupees a year earlier, the Indian refiner said in a statement on Monday.

Eighteen analysts on average had expected a profit of 18.42 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data. Average gross refining margin, the difference between the cost of crude oil processed and the prices of refined products, fell to $5.57 per barrel from $7.97 per barrel a year earlier.

Revenue from operations jumped 29.3 percent to 828.8 billion rupees at BPCL, whose shares closed 0.8 percent higher, while the broader NSE index rose 2.2 percent.

($1 = 73.3700 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Alexander Smith)