 "Bharat Petroleum, BPCL")
State-owned oil marketing company (OMC) BPCL reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4,789.57 crore in the fourth quarter (January-March) of FY24. Net profit fell 30.28 per cent compared to Rs 6,870.47 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Sequentially, BPCL saw its net profit rise 50.5 per cent from the Rs 3,181.42 crore registered in the preceding quarter.
The reduction in net profit in Q4 may have been due to lower gross marketing margins on petrol and diesel. Margins had reduced to an average of Rs 8 and Rs 3.4 per litre, respectively, during the quarter, according to a note by Motilal Oswal. On the other hand, a pump price cut of Rs 2 since March 15 may have reduced retail margins as well.
Despite the dip in profits in the latest quarter, the public sector OMC saw its consolidated annual net profit zoom 1,160 per cent to a record high of Rs 26,858.84 crore in FY24, up from Rs 2,131.05 crore in FY23. Continuous discounts on an increasing volume of Russian crude supplies are widely understood to be behind this.
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Consolidated revenue from operations in Q4 FY24 shrank marginally by 1 per cent to Rs 1.32 trillion, compared to Rs 1.33 trillion reported in the preceding quarter. Meanwhile, total expenses also shrank 0.42 per cent to Rs 1.25 trillion in the latest quarter.
"These achievements provide a strong foundation for BPCL's ambitious strategy ‘Project Aspire,’ which, at a planned capital outlay of Rs 1.7 lakh crore over five years, will fuel our next wave of growth to create long-term value for our shareholders," BPCL chairman and managing director G Krishnakumar said.
Looking ahead to FY25, Krishnakumar said BPCL expects crude oil prices to remain in the $83-87 per barrel range in the near future. The OMC plans to expand its refining capacity to 45 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) and add 4,000 new fuel stations by FY29.
On Thursday, the company's board approved a bonus issue in the proportion of 1:1, where investors receive one extra share for every share held in the company.
The average gross refining margin (GRM) of BPCL for FY24 stood at $14.14 per barrel, compared to $20.24 in FY23. GRM is the amount that refiners earn from converting every barrel of crude oil into refined fuel products. Meanwhile, market sales for the state refiner in FY24 totalled 51.04 million metric tonnes, compared to 48.92 MMT in the corresponding period of FY23, registering a growth of 5 per cent, the OMC said.
