Better sales prune HPCL loss to Rs 87 crore

Better margins of the Mumbai refinery helped downstream oil major Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) reduce its net loss to Rs 86.93 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from a loss of Rs 607.67 crore in the corresponding last quarter.

Net sales of the company increased by 5.8 per cent for the quarter to Rs 21,881.70 crore, from Rs 20,674.10 crore in the corresponding previous quarter.

The gross refining margins (GRMs) for the Mumbai refinery were $9.04 a barrel in the June quarter, higher than $8.08 a barrel in the comparable period a year ago. The Vizag refinery, on the other hand, posted a gross margin of $7.80 a barrel compared with $8.41 a barrel a year ago.

HPCL said the financial results for the quarter had been adversely affected due to high crude oil and product prices, which could not be fully passed on to the consumers. The under-recovery on MS, HSD, superior kerosene oil (SKO) (PDS) and LPG (domestic) for the quarter was partially compensated by way of discounts from upstream oil companies ONGC and GAIL. Crude oil, LPG and SKO purchased from the upstream companies amounted to Rs 900.94 crore compared with Rs 1,236.11 crore in the same period of 2006.

Crude oil throughput for the period was 3.90 million tonnes (mt), whereas the same was 4.14 mt in the corresponding period in 2006. However, market sales, including exports increased to 5.90 mt compared with 5.35 mt in the same period last year.

Interest expenditure for the period was Rs 133.35 crore compared with Rs 59.59 crore in the previous corresponding quarter. Subsidy amounting to Rs 131.88 crore (Rs 129.56 crore) on LPG and SKO (PDS) has been accounted at one-third of the subsidy rates as approved by the government for 2002-03.

The HPCL stock closed on the Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE) today at Rs 256.35, down by 0.59 per cent from the previous day's close of Rs 254.85.