Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), a state-owned oil marketing company, has reported a ten-fold increase in loss for the first quarter ended June 2008, due to higher under-recoveries from selling petroleum products at below production cost.
The company posted a net loss of Rs 888 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2008 as compared to Rs 86 crore loss in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income during the just completed quarter jumped 57 per cent to Rs 34,917 crore from Rs 22,216 crore during quarter ended June 30, 2007.
”Financial results for the quarter have been adversely affected due to high crude and product prices,” said B Mukherjee, director, finance at HPCL.
The company’s gross under-recoveries for the three months ended June 2008 stood at Rs 10,229 crore as compared to Rs 2,705 in the corresponding previous quarter. Crude oil prices have shot up to $126.33 per barrel in June 2008 from $59.25 per barrel in June 2007.
The gross refining margins for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 were $15.23 per barrel for Mumbai refinery and $ 17.05 per barrel for Visakh refinery. HPCL shares fell 5.26 per cent at Rs 218.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.