First quarter losses for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd have widened to Rs 8,836 crore, mainly because of non-payment of subsidy by the Centre and depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. In the year-ago quarter, the company made a loss of Rs 2,561 crore.

BPCL is the third public sector refiner — after Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation — to report huge losses following the Centre’s inability to foot the subsidy bill.

For the quarter, the company has reported an 18 per cent hike in net sales at Rs 54,522 crore (Rs 46,117 crore).

FOREX LOSSES

As the prices of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene were not hiked by the Centre, and stayed in line with the international prices, BPCL reported an under-recovery of Rs 7,964 crore for the first quarter, while in the year-ago quarter it was Rs 3,356 crore.

The company also suffered foreign exchange losses to the tune of Rs 1,611 crore for the quarter. In the year-ago quarter, it was Rs 1,060 crore.

The company's gross refining margin was down to $2.62 per barrel for this quarter, against $4.20 per barrel clocked in the year-ago quarter.

Market sales were higher at 8.50 MMT, compared with 7.83 MMT achieved during the corresponding period the previous year. The increase in sales was mainly due to 4.77 per cent increase in petrol, 15.44 per cent increase in diesel and 8.53 per cent increase in LPG.

At the close of market hours on the BSE, the stock traded at Rs 352.10 — an increase of 3.22 per cent over the previous closing price.

> rahul.wadke@thehindu.co.in

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