HPCL powers Q4 net by 31%

State-owend fuel retailer Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) on Friday reported 31 per cent jump in the March quarter net profit on higher refining margins and inventory gains.

HPCL, which had in 2016-17 issued bonus shares in the ratio of 2:1, also announced a bonus issue of one equity share of Rs 10 each for every two equity shares held. Net profit in the January-March quarter of last fiscal was Rs 1,818.79 crore (Rs 17.90 per share), 31 per cent higher than Rs 1,387.91 crore (Rs 13.66 a share), in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, 2015-16, HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Kumar Surana said.

"Profit was higher as a result of better operating efficiencies, higher sales and inventory gains," he said. The company made an inventory gain of Rs 743 crore in the fourth quarter of 2016-17, as compared to Rs 37 crore gain made in the same period of the previous financial year. pti