Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has posted a net profit of ₹4,609.24 crore for the quarter ended March 31, down from ₹7,679.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Net sales grew to ₹64,126.81 crore in the quarter from ₹61,228.87 crore a year ago.
Net profit for the fiscal ended March 31 rose to ₹1,734 crore from ₹905 crore in the previous fiscal. The company said the increase in profit was mainly due to higher refining and marketing margins.
Net sales for the fiscal 2013-14, grew to ₹2.23 lakh crore from ₹2.06 lakh crore in the previous year. Sales of petroleum products in the domestic market were at an all-time high of 30.26 million tonnes (mt) during 2013-14, up 4.1 per cent from the year before, said the company.
The state-run oil marketer said the industry growth rate was 1.3 per cent. The pipeline throughput increased to 15.69 mt, compared to 14.04 mt in the previous year.
Dividend
“For 2013-14, HPCL has proposed a dividend of ₹15.50 per share (155 per cent) against ₹.8.50 per share (85 per cent) in the previous year. The dividend would result in a total payout of ₹614 crore, including the dividend distribution tax,” the company said in a statement.
Four new product pipelines are currently under implementation at a total cost of ₹2,277 crore and the physical progress achieved in all these pipelines as of March 2014 are on schedule, HPCL said. The company has started making its footprints in the natural gas segment, and in this regard, it has initiated the process of setting up a 5 million tonnes a year liquefied natural gas terminal at Chhara, Gujarat, in a joint venture partnership with SP Ports Pvt Ltd.
On Wednesday, HPCL’s scrip lost 3.97 per cent on BSE to close at ₹408.50, while the benchmark Sensex ended trade flat at 24,556.09 points.