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New Delhi: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) posted a net profit of Rs 4,371 crore for the April–June quarter (Q1 FY26), rising 30 percent sequentially from Rs 3,355 crore in the previous quarter and surging more than 12-fold from Rs 356 crore a year ago. The performance came despite a sharp decline in gross refining margins (GRMs), underscoring the strength of the company’s operational efficiency and marketing resilience.
The GRM dropped to $3.08 per barrel in Q1 FY26 from $5.03 a year earlier, reflecting weaker international product cracks and high-sulphur crude discounts narrowing. Despite this, HPCL’s EBITDA stood at Rs 8,124 crore, and profit before tax rose 35 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 5,826 crore, up from Rs 4,304 crore in Q4 FY25.
Revenue from operations was Rs 1,20,135 crore — nearly unchanged from both the previous quarter (Rs 1,20,138 crore) and the year-ago period (Rs 1,20,879 crore). However, the company improved its profitability through better inventory management, record throughput, and lower financing costs.
Operating margin rose to 5.04 percent in Q1 FY26, up from 3.57 percent in the March quarter and sharply higher than the 0.54 percent reported in Q1 FY25. Net profit margin improved to 3.64 percent — more than 1 percentage point higher than the previous quarter.
Other income dropped sequentially to Rs 523 crore from Rs 793 crore, while finance costs rose to Rs 749 crore from Rs 709 crore. Exchange rate fluctuations also led to a Rs 72 crore loss during the quarter, compared to a gain of Rs 28 crore in the year-ago period.
Refinery throughput hit an all-time high of 6.66 million metric tonnes (MMT), up 15.6 percent year-on-year and 1.2 percent over the previous quarter. Visakh Refinery accounted for 4.16 MMT — its highest ever — and Mumbai Refinery processed 2.50 MMT. Capacity utilisation touched 109 percent, while fuel and loss levels were the best ever at 6.88 percent by weight.
Despite a larger share of high-sulphur crude — 60.8 percent of the total crude basket — HPCL managed to maintain high distillate yields at 74.4 percent, aided by stabilised operations and optimisation across units.
Total sales volume grew 3.2 percent year-on-year and 0.5 percent sequentially to 13.04 MMT, including exports. Domestic sales stood at 12.26 MMT, with petrol and diesel volumes rising modestly to 8.11 MMT — up 1.1 percent YoY and flat QoQ.
LPG sales rose 6.6 percent YoY, while CNG volumes jumped 22.1 percent to 310 TMT, and ATF grew 11.4 percent to 291 TMT — showing strong recovery in the mobility and aviation segments. Pipeline throughput was nearly flat at 6.70 MMT, down 1.9 percent from Q1 FY25 and stable sequentially.
The company added 154 new retail outlets in Q1, bringing its network to 23,901. Retail throughput per outlet improved marginally, supported by initiatives like Project Abhyuday.
HPCL reduced its total debt to Rs 50,995 crore at the end of June 2025 — down from Rs 63,323 crore in March and Rs 57,405 crore a year ago — significantly improving its debt-equity ratio to 1.01 from 1.38 in the previous quarter. Net worth rose to Rs 50,497 crore, and the interest service coverage ratio improved to 8.22x from 7.01x in Q4.
The company incurred Rs 2,860 crore in capex during Q1, largely towards key refining and infrastructure projects. The Barmer Refinery under HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) reached 88 percent overall progress, with crude distillation expected to begin this year. Of the Rs 72,814 crore project cost, Rs 59,287 crore has already been spent.
The Visakh Residue Upgradation Facility is PESO-cleared and slated for commissioning in the coming weeks, while India’s largest LPG cavern in Mangalore is awaiting PCB clearance.
HPCL commissioned one new compressed biogas plant (taking the total to 16) and issued 19 new Letters of Intent in Q1. It also solarised 90 additional retail outlets, taking the renewable-powered share of its network to 94 percent.
Digitally, the company continued rolling out customer relationship platforms, energy monitoring tools, and marketing upgrades under Project Samriddhi — which aims to improve refining margins by $0.50/bbl through operational excellence.
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