Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) on Wednesday reported a 53 per cent drop in June quarter net profit, primarily on account of inventory losses caused by the fall in global crude oil prices and a decline in refinery margins.
The company’s net profit slipped to Rs 811 crore in April-June as compared to Rs 1,719 crore a year ago.
“The decrease in profit is due to sharp decline in crude prices in the month of May and June 2019 leading to inventory loses both at refinery and marketing, and also lower average cracks for all products except for LPG and fuel oil,” said the company’s chairman and managing director Mukesh K Surana.
The company made just around USD 0.75 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during the quarter under review compared to a gross refining margin of as much as USD 7.15 per barrel during the period last year.