HPCL fourth-quarter profit falls nearly 4 percent

(Reuters) - State-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd on Tuesday posted a nearly 4 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, hurt by higher expenses.

Net profit was 17.48 billion rupees ($257.04 million) in the three months ended March 31, compared with 18.19 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said on Tuesday.

That compares with the 17.59 billion rupees average estimate of 21 analysts, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Total expenses rose 13.8 percent to 646.21 billion rupees, while income from operations rose 13 percent to 663.51 billion rupees.

($1 = 68.0050 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)