State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) on Tuesday reported a 1,227% growth in net profit at Rs 5,104.04 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009 against Rs 384.51 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Sales of the company declined 20% to Rs 25,580.46 crore from Rs 31,779.49 crore. Meanwhile, shares of the company dipped 3.12% to close at Rs 349.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
For the financial year ended March 31, HPCL posted a net profit of Rs 757.39 crore, a 44% decline over the year-ago period. The company had a net profit of Rs 1,364.10 crore in FY’08.
Sales rose 16.46% to Rs 1,29,978.82 crore during the fiscal ended March 31, 2009, from Rs 1,11,603.58 crore in the previous financial year.
The company said that employee cost for the year is higher due to a provision of Rs 243.60 crore towards revision in the salary for management staff. The employee cost shot up to Rs 1,162.71 crore for the year as against Rs 896.19 crore.
Gross refining margin for the financial year ended March 31 stood at $3.97 per barrel, against $6.54 a barrel in the year-ago period.
The board has declared a dividend of 52.5% at the rate of Rs 5.25 a piece on every share of Rs 10 each held for the financial year ended March 31.
HPCL is a Fortune 500 company, with an annual turnover of over Rs 1,29,978.82 crore during FY 2008-09, with a decent refining and marketing share in India and a strong market infrastructure. The company operates two major refineries producing a wide variety of petroleum fuels and specialties ? one in Mumbai (West Coast) of 5.5 MMTPA capacity and the other in Vishakapatnam, (East Coast) with a capacity of 7.5 MMTPA. HPCL holds an equity stake of 16.95% in Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Limited, a state-of-the-art refinery with a capacity of 9 MMTPA.