HPCL Q4 net jumps 66% to Rs 7,679.31 crore

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) today reported 66 per cent jump in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013, after the government paid compensation for selling fuel below cost during second half of 2012-13.

Net profit in January-March, 2013 jumped to Rs 7,679.31crore from Rs 4,630.99 crore in the same period last year, HPCL director (finance) B Mukherjee told reporters here.

In the quarter, the company got lumpsum compensation for selling diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene at government controlled rates which are way below market price, during the October-March, 2012 period.
     
Of the Rs 24,825 crore cash subsidy paid by the government for selling diesel and cooking fuel below cost in 2012-13 fiscal, the company got Rs 12,620 crore in Q4 alone.

It did not get any compensation in third quarter.

Of the Rs 36,246 crore in revenue it lost on selling diesel and cooking fuel below cost during the full fiscal, it got Rs 24,825 crore from the government and another Rs 11,189 crore from upstream firms like ONGC, he said. "We absorbed 0.6 per cent of the under-recoveries (revenue loss)."
     
For the full fiscal, the company reported a net profit of Rs 904.71 crore which was marginally lower than Rs 911.43 crore in the previous financial year.

HPCL earned $3.75 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in January-March, up from USD 3.03 per barrel gross refining margin in the same period a year ago.
     
Mr Mukherjee said the company was not losing any money on petrol sales currently but lost Rs 3.73 a litre on diesel, Rs 27.93 a litre on kerosene and Rs 378.38 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.
     
Turnover cross Rs 200,000 crore as it rose 14.6 per cent to Rs 215,675 crore in 2012-13.
     
"The sales of petroleum products in the domestic market were at an all time high of 29.07 million tonnes, registering an increase of 4.6 per cent over the previous year, as against the industry growth rate of 3.6 per cent," he said.
     
The refineries at Mumbai and Visakh processed 15.78 million tonnes of crude during the year, down from 16.19 million tonnes as the two units had taken a planned maintenance shutdown.

The combined GRM during the year was $2.08 per barrel as opposed to $2.39 in the previous fiscal.
     
For the year 2012-13, HPCL has proposed a dividend of Rs 8.50 per share. The dividend would result in a total payout of Rs 337 crore, including dividend distribution tax, he said.