Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio | Blogs |
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Financial Performance Corporate Results - Petroleum Corporate - Corporate Bonds
Our Bureau Mumbai, Oct. 28 The Centre’s dithering on issue of oil bonds has pushed Hindustan Petroleum Corporation into the red in the second quarter of this fiscal with losses totalling Rs 136.68 crore from profits of Rs 649 crore in the first. Little solace can be derived from the fact that HPCL’s second quarter losses last fiscal were substantially higher at Rs 3,218.92 crore. “That was an abnormal period when crude oil prices shot though the roof. This fiscal was a lot more sedate but the delay in issue of oil bonds has hit the company hard,” sources said. The bonds were meant to make good the Rs 1,460-crore losses incurred on sale of kerosene (Rs 855 crore) and LPG (Rs 605 crore) at subsidised prices. Even the combined losses on these two fuels, of Rs 990 crore, in the preceding quarter are yet to be made good for HPCL. “In effect, the Centre owes us Rs 2,450 crore and things do not look rosy in the third quarter with global crude oil prices firming up to over $75 per barrel. LPG and kerosene losses could go higher as a result,” sources told Business Line. The bad news is that the oil bonds are expected to be issued only towards the end of the third quarter. For the second quarter, the combined losses for the three refiners (IOC, HPCL and BPCL) on LPG and kerosene total Rs 10,309 crore. Of this, kerosene alone accounts for Rs 4,500 crore which is “a disturbing sign”. The upstream sector (ONGC, OIL and GAIL) has compensated its downstream counterpart’s losses on petrol and diesel to the tune of Rs 3,442 crore. ONGC along with Oil India and GAIL (India) made good HPCL’s losses on petrol and diesel totalling Rs 762 crore. This was done in the form of discounts offered on sale of crude oil and products. HPCL’s petrol and diesel losses in the first quarter of this fiscal (also compensated in full by the upstream sector) amounted to Rs 174 crore and the steep increase in the figure this quarter reflects the upward trend in crude oil prices. The silver lining in the cloud for HPCL was the fact that it reported profits for the half year (April-September) of Rs 512.44 crore thanks largely to the profit in the preceding quarter. The HPCL scrip was down marginally to Rs 339.95 on Wednesday from Tuesday's close of Rs 347.65. Bharat Petroleum Corporation and IndianOil are scheduled to declare their results on Thursday and Friday respectively. While the former is expected to "scrape through with a marginal net profit" IOC will "be more comfortable" thanks to additional revenue from alternative sources like pipelines.PSU refiners face Rs 5,000-cr monthly losses as crude oil hits $80 HPCL, BPCL on slippery path in Q2 Petrol, diesel losses flare up as refiners keep fingers crossed HPCL back in black More Stories on : Financial Performance | Petroleum | Corporate Bonds | Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd
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