NEW DELHI: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Tuesday reported a more than doubling of its net profit for the December quarter year-on-year due to a sharp rise in inventory gains resulting from rising crude oil prices.
According to financials released by the oil marketing company, its net profit in the October-December quarter (Q3FY21) stood at Rs 2,777.6 crore 120 per cent higher than the Rs 1,260.6 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.
“Third quarter (of 2020-21 fiscal) has been the strongest in terms of profit before tax and profit after tax in this fiscal year. We are back to pre-COVID levels of sales,” said BPCL Director (Finance) N Vijayagopal while speaking to the press after release.
The company booked an inventory gain of Rs 771 crore for the quarter as fuel it produced by acquiring crude oil at low prices was sold at higher rates as crude oil prices increased over the last three months of 2020 on recovering demand. The OMC also recorded a foreign exchange gain of Rs 76 crore for the period.
As for its refining operations, BPCL, which owns four refineries in the country, earned $2.47 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during quarter—down from $3.23 per barrel gross refining margin (GRM) witnessed in the corresponding period a year ago.
Total sales, meanwhile, were up 1.4 per cent at Rs 86,579.9 crore. “COVID is over for us,” said Vijayagopal, adding that domestic sales of petroleum products stood at 11.10 million tonnes in the third quarter compared to 11.02 million tonnes sold last year. With demand returning following a relaxation in pandemic restrictions, the firm’s refineries are operating at 105 per cent of capacity.