Hindustan Petroleum Q3 net profit drops 63% on inventory loss

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) on Monday reported a 63 per cent decline in third quarter net profit as it booked inventory losses.

Net profit in October-December of Rs 869 crore compared with Rs 2,355 crore for the same period last year.

“The profit was affected primarily due to the price fluctuations in Q3 2021 leading to inventory losses compared to inventory gains in the corresponding period last year,” HPCL Chairman and Managing Director M K Surana told reporters here.

While refusing to give inventory loss numbers, he said the loss was on the marketing side — meaning it sold fuel at less than its cost.

This primarily would have been due to keeping petrol and diesel prices on hold despite international oil prices jumping above USD 90 per barrel.