BPCL net profit for Q4 slumps 80 per cent
28 May 2010
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has reported an 80 per cent dip in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2010. The company attributed the drop to a change in methodology adopted by the petroleum ministry for disbursal of oil bonds.
Net profit for the quarter amounted to Rs703 crore, down from Rs3,628 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
The company said that in the fourth quarter of 2008-09 it had received oil bonds for the complete year, while in 2009-10, the ministry disbursed oil bonds over the four quarters of the fiscal.
Revenues for the quarter rose 41 per cent to Rs 37,570 crore (Rs 26,525 crore), as both sales and inventory gains were higher.
The gross refining margin for the year ended 31 March 2010 was $1.78 a barrel (previous year $4.48 a barrel) for the company's Mumbai refinery and $4.87 a barrel (previous year $6.27 a barrel) for its Kochi Refinery.
The direct market sales of petroleum products were higher at 27.70 million tonnes, against 27.16 mt achieved during 2008-09. Sale of petrol has shown a 10.69 per cent increase, for diesel it was 6.03 per cent and for LPG 6.68 per cent. On the other hand, sales of naphtha dipped 20.52 per cent and furnace oil by 11.82 per cent.
In a separate development, the company said in a press statement that the chairman and managing director, Ashok Sinha, would demit office on 18 August, after completion of his five-year tenure.