New Delhi: Hit by higher inventory loss and rising expenses, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) posted a 77 percent fall in net profit for its December quarter. In the three months, state-run BPCL's profit came in at Rs 495 crore, against Rs 2,144 crore a year earlier. Despite the fall, the December-end profit surpassed analysts' estimation of Rs 457.8 million, Refinitiv Eikon data says. In the government's efforts to lessen the impact of high crude oil price on the public, state-run oil companies had to take a price cut in October.
Another factor which led to a steep fall in the expenses during the quarter was a foreign exchange gain of Rs 659 crore.
However, there was an uptick in revenue, which grew 25 percent to Rs 8,237 crore during the quarter. The average gross refining margins (GRM) fell to US$ 2.78 per barrel, compared to US$ 7.89 per barrel in the same period a year ago.
For the financial year 2018-19, the company's board has confirmed an interim dividend of Rs 11 per equity share of face value of Rs 10 each on the company's paid-up equity share capital.