HPCL cracks as PSU posts back-to-back quarterly losses for first time in September quarter; brokerages mixed

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (NSE: HINDPETRO) cracked more than 3 per cent on Friday after the state-owned oil and gas refining company reported back-to-back quarterly losses for the first time. The company on Thursday released its July-September quarter earnings data wherein it posted Rs 2,172 crore. Its standalone net loss stood at Rs 2,172.14 crore against Rs 1,923.51 crore profit in the same period last year. HPCL posted a record of Rs 10,196.94 crore in the April-June quarter.

HPCL quoted Rs 203 apiece on the NSE at 2 PM, declining around 4 per cent from its previous close of Rs 211.05

The loss in the second quarter of the current fiscal was despite accounting for a one-time grant that the government had announced on October 12 to make up for most of the losses that the oil PSUs had incurred on selling cooking gas LPG below cost in the last two years. HPCL said it got Rs 5,617 crore "to compensate under-recoveries incurred on the sale of domestic LPG during the financial year 2021-22 and current period, which has been duly recognised in July-September 2022".

The government had on October 12 extended a one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore to three state-owned fuel retailers to cover for losses they incurred on selling domestic cooking gas LPG below cost in the last two years.

Brokerages are mixed on HPCL stock following the announcement of the second quarter results.

For the first half of the current fiscal, HPCL now has a cumulative standalone net loss of Rs 12,369.08 crore - double the Rs 6,683.14 crore net profit it had earned in the full 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022) fiscal.

HPCL said it earned USD 12.62 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuels during April-September compared to a gross refining margin of USD 2.87 a barrel.

The firm also booked a Rs 1,548.51 crore foreign exchange loss in the period under review. The consolidated net loss of Rs 2,475.69 crore in July-September and Rs 8,557.12 crore in April-September compares to a profit of Rs 1,918.89 crore in Q2 and Rs 3,922.79 crore in H1 of the last year. Revenue from operations soared 30 per cent to Rs 1.13 lakh crore in July-September.

HPCL sold more petroleum products domestically in Q2 (9.87 million tonnes versus 8.79 million tonnes last year) and refined more crude oil (4.49 million tonnes as opposed to 2.53 million tonnes in Q2 of FY22).

HPCL has delivered a negative return of 36 per cent to its investors in the past 1 year. The stock's 52-week range is Rs 354.80 to Rs 200.05. The company has a market cap of around Rs 28804 crore, as per NSE data.

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