 "Numaligarh Refinery posts highest ever profit in 2015-16")
Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has posted the highest ever net profit of Rs 1,222 crore for the fiscal 2015-16. The growth in net profit of NRL, which is a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), has been 70% over previous year’s net profit of Rs 718 crore, declared the 23rd annual general meeting (AGM) of the company.
This is also the first time that the downstream oil company has recorded a net profit above Rs 1,000 crore. The profit before tax (PBT) was recorded at Rs 1,833 crore, marking an increase of 66% compared to the last year’s PBT of Rs 1,134 crore.
With a Gross Refining Margin (GRM) of $8.06 per barrel, it has been one of the best in the industry. Sales turnover during the year was Rs 11,925 crore, a growth of 10.14% over previous year. The earning per Share (EPS) for the year 2015-16 stood at Rs. 16.62 compared to Rs. 9.76 in 2014-15. Net worth of the company as on March 31, 2016 reached Rs 3,958 crore. “Improvement in financial performance could be achieved through optimisation of business operations,” said a NRL press statement.
The AGM, which was held here today, was chaired S Varadarajan, chairman and managing director of BPCL and was attended by P Padmanabhan, managing director of NRL and other members of the NRL board and shareholders of the company.
With declaration of final dividend of Rs 3.50 per fully paid equity shares of Rs 10 each together with interim dividend of Rs 3.50 per share, which has been paid during the year. Total dividend payout for NRL to its shareholders, namely, BPCL, Oil India Ltd (OIL) and government of Assam for the year would be Rs 7 per share, which will be the highest ever since inception of the company at Rs 514.94 crore.
The year 2015-16 marked a new beginning for NRL with commercial production and sale of paraffin wax. By end of the financial year, NRL was able to capture 40-45% share of the domestic wax market. Besides, NRL wax was also exported and marketed in neighbouring Nepal and shipped to as far as Kenya. High quality of NRL wax has evinced interest from countries as far as Mexico, Mozambique and USA with exports likely to commence shortly. Sale of liquid Nitrogen also commenced during the year, adding to the product slate.
The refinery processed 2,520 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) of crude during 2015-16.