State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) posted its fiscal first quarter profit at Rs 6,765.50 crore as against a loss of Rs 8,557.12 crore during the first quarter of FY23. The profit rise was aided by record high sales volume and better marketing margins, it said. The company posted a total income of Rs 1,19,761.74 crore, down 1.7 per cent in comparison to Rs 1,21,829.51 crore during Q1FY23. The total expenses, meanwhile, during the quarter in review stood at Rs 1,11,514.91 crore, down 17.7 per cent from Rs 1,35,438.73 crore a year earlier.
Average GRMs (Gross of export duty) for the period April-June 2023 were $7.44 per barrel ($16.69 per barrel during the corresponding period of previous year.
HPCL’s Q1 performance
HPCL refineries processed the highest ever quarterly crude thru-put of 5.40 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) during Q1FY24 registering a growth of 12.3 per cent over 4.81 MMT crude processed during the corresponding period of previous year. Visakhapatnam Refinery functioning at enhanced capacity of 11 MMTPA processed the highest ever quarterly crude thru-put of 2.96 MMT. The period also saw highest ever quarterly production of HSD (2338 TMT) and Lube Oil Base Stock (137.5 TMT) at HPCL refineries, HPCL said.
On the marketing front, HPCL achieved its highest ever quarterly total sales volume of 11.85 MMT, up 10.7 per cent. In the domestic market, HPCL posted the highest ever quarterly sales volume of 11.43 MMT during the quarter, registering a growth of 9.4 per cent as compared to industry growth of 5.5 per cent. HPCL also recorded its highest ever pipeline thru-put of 6.49 MMT – a growth of 12.9 per cent over pipeline thru-put of 5.75 MMT during corresponding period of previous year, surpassing the previous high of 6.13 MMT achieved during Q4 FY22-23.
Reacting on the HPCL’s quarter performance, Swarnendu Bhushan, Co-Head of Research, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd, said, “HPCL reported better than expected Q1 results with EBITDA of Rs 9520 crore and PAT of Rs 6200 crore. Near term earnings as Q1FY24E blended marketing margins remain higher than normative margins. We also factor in uncertainty due to upcoming elections as well as uncertainty in oil prices.”
