New Delhi: Disinvestment-bound oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has recorded a 58 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,589.52 crore in the September quarter (Q2) of FY2020-21 on account of lower expenses, including material and finance costs. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to linger as the oil behemoth reported a 12 percent drop in revenue. Addressing the press on Thursday, BPCL Director (Finance) N Vijayagopal said that the company expects a growth in the demand of petroleum products over last year by the March quarter.
Explaining the increase in Gross Refining Margins (GRM) for BPCL from $3.38 per barrel in Q2 of FY20 to $5.8 per barrel in the Q2 of FY21, Vijayagopal said, "We adopted a strategy to buy (cheaper) crude oil in April and May, and that has given a boost to our refining margins."
In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, BPCL's refinery throughput remained lower at 7.12 million metric tonnes (MMT) for Q2, down from 9.25 MMT in FY20. Vijayagopal said that the BPCL's refinery utilisation was at 86 percent in October. He, however, added that the company used the slump in demand induced by COVID to undertake the planned shutdown and maintenance of the refineries and they are now ready to operate at 100 percent capacity whenever the demand picks up.
The sales for petrol was down 23.19 percent, diesel sales declined 24.91 percent and aviation tribune fuel (ATF) was down 72.65 percent in H1 of FY21. Vijayagopal said that sales in October have recovered to pre-covid levels as petrol and diesel registered a growth of 4-5 percent in sales volume over the corresponding month of FY20. "I expect a year-on-year growth in demand in the fourth quarter," said the Director (Finance).
Commenting on the company's capital expenditure for the year, Vijaygopal said that BPCL has so far spent Rs 2,500 crore out of the planned capex of Rs 8,000 crore. However, he added that the company about meeting the capex target and even exceeding it by the end of the financial year.
Borrowings, as on September 30, was at Rs 27,850 crore as opposed to Rs 41,875 at the end of March. Revenue from operations for Q2 was at Rs 66,331.22 crore, down 12 percent.
Inventory gains for the company were at Rs 2,503 crore, of which Rs 1,303 crore was inventory gains seen in the refining segment. This compared to an overall inventory loss of Rs 26 crore reported for the same period a year ago. BPCL commissioned a total of 704 retail outlets during the quarter ending September 30.
The company hadannounced VRS in July and said that an amount of Rs 634 crore has been debited to Profit and Loss account during the current quarter. A total of 1,305 employees have opted for VRS.
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