State-owned Bharat Petroleum on Thursday reported a 30.3% decline in its consolidated net profit for the last quarter of FY24, dropping to Rs 4,789.57 crore from Rs 6,870.47 crore in the same period the previous fiscal due to high crude oil prices impacting refining margins of the company.
The net profit, however, rose 50% from Rs 3,181.42 crore in the third quarter of FY24. The company’s revenue from operations during the quarter under review declined marginally by 1% to Rs 1.32 trillion. Total income stood at Rs 1.33 trillion as compared to Rs 1.34 trillion in Q4FY23.The average Gross Refining Margin for FY24 was $14.14 per barrel, down from $20.24 per barrel in FY23 as crude oil prices rose significantly especially in the second half of the fiscal. The consolidated operating margin fell to 4.74% in Q4FY24 from 7.02% in Q4FY23.
However, on y-o-y basis, BPCL’s consolidated net profit surged to Rs 26,858.84 crore in FY 24 compared to Rs 2,131.05 crore in FY23.The company’s domestic market sales grew by 2.1% to 13.18 million tonnes from 12.91 million tonnes in Q4FY23. Exports, however, fell to 0.23 million tonnes during the period from 0.34 million tonnes in Q4FY23. Crude throughput also declined to 10.36 million tonnes during the period from 10.63 million tonnes in Q4FY23.
The board of directors recommended issuance of one bonus share for every one share held, with June 22 as the record date. Additionally, the board has also recommended a final dividend of Rs. 21 per equity share of face value of Rs.10 each (pre-bonus), which translates into a final dividend of Rs.10.5 per equity share of face value of Rs.10 per equity share (post-bonus).“This is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 21 per equity share (pre-bonus) paid for the year by the Corporation,” the company said in an exchange filing.
The company has issued bonus shares after seven years. It has last issued one free share for every two held in 2017.The state-owned oil marketing companies had earlier cut auto fuel prices by Rs 2 per litre, first time after April 2022. Coupled with this was the rise in global crude oil prices which crossed $90 per barrel last month on the back of increased geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel.Elevated crude prices have raised fresh concerns about OMC’s profitability, and ability to keep the aggressive capital expenditure plans going forward.