HPCL slips on bleak Q2 numbers

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Oil refining-cum-marketing major HPCL ended lower on disappointing second-quarter results.

The stock was down 1.63 per cent to close at Rs 307.80, after hitting an intra-day low of Rs 303.60. More than 7.47 lakh shares changed hands at the counter on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

HPCL, burdened by the oil subsidy in the current quarter on the back of rising oil prices, reported a 33.6 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 294.31 crore from Rs 443.84 crore in the same quarter last year.

Total income net of excise rose 15 per cent to Rs 13,592.68 crore from Rs 11,785.73 crore during the same period. HPCL's poor results reflect a fall in marketing margins on retail sales of petroleum products such as petrol and diesel.

Three oil refining-cum- marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL and HPCL have not raised prices of petrol and diesel at a time when global crude oil prices have touched new highs.