New Delhi : State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) on Wednesday reported a 4 per cent drop in its March quarter net profit on lower refining margins and inventory gains.
Net profit in the January-March quarter of the fiscal year 2017-18 at Rs 1,748 crore compared with a net profit of Rs 1,819 crore in the year-ago period, HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh K Surana said.
“The profit decline was because of lower inventory gains compared to the previous quarter,” he said.
HPCL, which operates oil refineries at Mumbai and Visakh in Andhra Pradesh, earned $7.07 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter as compared to a gross refining margin of $7.99 per barrel a year ago.
Also, the company had lower inventory gain of Rs 157 crore in the three months ended March 31, 2018, as against Rs 460 crore last year, he said.
Inventory gains happen when a company buys crude oil at a particular price but by the time it is able to ship it to India and refining it into fuel, the rates have gone up.
