HPCL back in the black

BS 200 SCORECARD

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), the country's second largest crude oil refiner, has reported a net profit of Rs 407.3 crore during the quarter ended December 2006, as against a loss of Rs 1,077.75 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company has returned to the black on the back of a more than four-fold increase in other income to Rs 246.59 crore from Rs 50.35 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Net sales stood at Rs 22,150.2 crore, higher by 21.29 per cent over the Rs 18,260.99 crore recorded in the December quarter of 2005-06.

Total income increased 22.31 per cent to Rs 22,396.79 crore from Rs 18,311.34 crore in the year-ago period. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at Rs 12.02 compared with a negative Rs 31.8 in the corresponding period last year.

The company's share price on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell 0.85 per cent to Rs 359.90 on Wednesday, from Rs 363 on Monday, even as the Sensex fell 130.73 points from the previous day's close.