HPCL net zooms 135% at Rs 776 crore

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has recorded a 134.62 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 775.71 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2003 as compared with Rs 330.62 crore in the same quarter of previous year. Net sales were up at Rs 14259.45 crore (Rs 14219.886 crore).

The corporation's profits were up mainly due to the subsidy on LPG (domestic) and SKO (PDS) received from the government and the discount on crude oil and SKO/LPG received from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation/ GAIL India have been accounted as per the schemes approved by the government.

M B Lal, chairman and managing director of HPCL, said: "Refining margins were significantly higher. It was better than the previous two quarters and on an average the refining margins were $ 3.6 per barrel."

In a press release, HPCL has pointed out that its gross refining margin during the nine months ended December 2003 was up at $3.6 per barrel for the Mumbai refinery ($ 2.1 per barrel for April-December 2002) and $3.5 per barrel for the Visakh refinery ($3.4 per barrel).