BPCL declares record ~12,581 cr in dividend for FY21

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) on Wednesday declared a record ~12,581 crore in dividend, more than half of which will go to the government, ahead of privatisation of the company.

In a regulatory filing, BPCL said its “Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of ~58 per equity share (including one-time special dividend of ~35 per equity share of ~10 each) for the financial year ended March 31, 2021, subject to approval of the shareholders.”

The dividend works out to ~12,581.66 crore, including a special dividend of ~7,592.38 crore.

The government, which is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL, will get ~6,665.76 crore plus dividend distribution tax.

The dividend is in addition to the interim dividend of ~21 per share paid earlier in the fiscal year.

While the firm did not give any reason for declaring the record dividend, it had received ~9,876 crore from the sale of its 61.5 per cent stake in Numaligarh refinery in Assam to a consortium of Oil India, Engineers India, and Government of Assam, in March.

Almost simultaneously, the firm had bought 36.62 per cent of the equity held by OQ S.A.O.C (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C) in the Bina refinery, for ~2,399.26 crore.

The net gain made by BPCL after the two deals was ~7,477 crore — almost the same as the special dividend declared on Wednesday.

For FY21, BPCL reported a record stand-alone net profit of ~19,041.67 crore on back of the stake sale, as well as higher refining margin resulting from inventory gains accruing from rebounding oil prices.

The profit compared with ~2,683.19 crore net profit in FY20, the filing showed. In the January-march quarter, net profit rose to ~11,940.13 crore from ~2,777.62 crore a year back.

The firm earned $4.06 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in FY21, compared to gross refining margin of $2.5 per barrel a year back.

It also made a gain of ~199.75 crore on foreign exchange as compared to a loss of ~1,662.34 crore in FY20.

“Market sales of the corporation for FY21 was 38.74 million tonnes as compared to 43.10 mt in FY20.

Commenting on the Q4 earnings, Director (Finance) N Vijayagopal said, “We witnessed a V-shaped recovery in the second half, resulting in robust growth in fuel sales. In an unprecedented year, that began with a lockdown across the country and subdued business and economic activities, the fourth quarter was a stand-out quarter that helped the company to report its highest ever growth in bottom line.”