MRPL's net dips 40%

Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL), a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has posted a 50.31 per cent dip in its Q1 net profit on account of a sharp decline in gross refining margin (GRM).

GRM is the margin a refinery earns on the input and output cost and if the rise in crude oil prices is higher than that in petroleum products, the margins are squeezed.

Net profit for the quarter ended June 30 was Rs 420 crore as against Rs 845 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The company’s turnover in the quarter declined 41.54 per cent to Rs 7,171 crore. The GRM for the quarter stood at $7.98 a barrel as against $18.36. “The high GRM of over $18 that we saw last year cannot be sustained by any refinery in the long term. The GRM last fiscal was just $5.33 a barrel though the Q1 number was high. We would be satisfied if we can close the current year with a GRM of $8,” L K Gupta, director (finance), said.

 

The company would invest Rs 1,800 crore to set up a polypropylene unit with a capacity of 440,000 tonnes, ONGC Chairman R S Sharma said.