State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) on Monday reported a 91 per cent Y-o-Y drop in its consolidated net profit in Q1 FY25 at around ₹634 crore on account of lower refining margins and higher costs.
On a sequential basis, the net profit of the oil marketing company (OMC) was down by 77 per cent.
HPCL’s consolidated total income during the April-June quarter this fiscal year stood at around ₹1.22 lakh crore compared to roughly ₹1.22 lakh crore in Q4 FY24 and ₹1.20 lakh crore in Q1 FY24.
The company’s average Gross Refining Margin (GRM) for Q1 FY25 stood at $5.03 per barrel as against $7.44 in Q1 FY24 and $6.95 per barrel in Q4 FY24. This is before factoring-in the impact of Special Additional Excise Duty and Road & Infrastructure Cess on export of select petroleum products, HPCL said in its results filing on BSE.
Its consolidated total expenses were higher at ₹1.21 lakh crore in Q1 FY25 compared to ₹1.19 lakh crore in Q4 FY24 and ₹1.12 lakh crore in Q1 FY24.
“The primary reasons for lower profit after tax (PAT) are suppressed marketing margins on select petroleum products and reduced refining margins,” HPCL said in a statement commenting on the standalone performance of the OMC.
The reduction in GRMs is primarily due to lower cracks in line with the trend of international product cracks, it added.
Operational metrics
HPCL Refineries recorded crude throughput of 5.76 million tonnes (MT) during Q1 FY25, registering an increase of 6.7 per cent Y-o-Y despite planned shutdown in Refineries. Widening the company’s crude basket, HPCL Refineries processed imported crude Khafji and Varandey, and Indigenous crude KGDWN for the first time.
The company recorded the highest-ever quarterly sales volume of 12.63 MT (including exports) during Q1 FY25, registering a growth of 6.6 per cent Y-o-Y. The company also achieved a market share gain of 0.25 per cent amongst PSU OMCs during the period.
During Q1 FY25, sales of Motor fuels were 8.02 MT, a growth of 2.7 per cent Y-o-Y and in case of LPG, the company achieved a sales volume of 2.07 MT (a growth of 8.7 per cent Y-o-Y.
The Aviation business of the company recorded a robust growth of 31.3 per cent Y-o-Y with sales volume of 261,000 tonnes during Q1 FY25. A new aviation refuelling facility at Kanpur was commissioned during the quarter taking the total count to 55.
In the highly competitive lubricants business, HPCL’s sales were 152,000 tonnes during Q1 FY25, a growth of 3.1 per cent Y-o-Y. During Q1 FY25, the company recorded its highest-ever petrochemical sales of 30,300 tonnes and introduced new grade HDPE Raffia in the polymer segment.
HPCL also recorded its highest-ever pipeline throughput of 6.83 MT during Q1 FY25, a growth of 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y.