HPCL REPORTS RECORD PROFIT ON INVENTORY, FOREX GAINS
NEW DELHI: Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) on Thursday reported a record net profit of ₹2,355 crore in the December quarter on the back of inventory gains it made from rising oil prices.
It posted a net profit in October-December at ₹2,354.64 crore compared with ₹747.20 crore in the same period a year back.
The profit was higher because of inventory gains made by “favourable crude oil movement” and forex gains from rupee movement, HPCL chairman and managing director Mukesh Kumar Surana told reporters on an earnings call.
The company recorded an inventory gain of ₹1,323 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal as crude oil bought at lower prices got converted and sold when rates had risen.
With the appreciation of the rupee, HPCL had foreign exchange gains of ₹297 crore as compared to ₹82 crore a year back.
“Efforts to optimise operating costs and borrowing costs has further helped in profitability improvements,” he said.
HPCL, the nation’s thirdlargest state oil refiner, earned $1.87 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the October-December quarter as compared to a gross refining margin (GRM) of $1.79 a barrel the previous year.
Fuel sales, which had halved immediately after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic, have returned to normal for HPCL, he said.”During October-December 2020, the domestic sales of petroleum products of HPCL increased to 10.03 million tonnes, registering a growth of 2.7% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year compared to industry growth of 0.30%,” he added.
HPCL’s petrol sales rose 6.4% while diesel was up 1.2% and LPG 5.9%.