Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.'s (HPCL) December quarter results were a miss on most fronts, leading to the stock collapsing from the highest point of the session to fall as much as 8%.
The state-run oil refiner reported a net profit of ₹529 crore during the quarter, while a CNBC-TV18 poll had anticipated the figure to be ₹1,498 crore.
Revenue for the quarter though, surpassed expectations of ₹99,501 crore, coming in at ₹1.11 lakh crore.
Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation or EBITDA missed the CNBCTV18 poll of ₹3,535 crore, coming in at ₹2,163 crore.
EBITDA margin also fell to 1.9% for the quarter, missing estimates of 3.7%.
According to ICICI Securities, HPCL's Gross Refining Margin (GRM) stood at $8.5 per barrel, which was also lower than the poll estimate of $15.5 per barrel. HPCL's peer Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had also reported a similar GRM of $13.5 per barrel for the December quarter results it reported on Wednesday.
However, among the three refiners, HPCL has a greater exposure to the marketing segment compared to the refining segment and hence, any changes in the former will have a greater impact on its financials.
ICICI Securities wrote that implied marketing margins for the quarter stood at ₹4,707 per tonne, which was well below their estimates of ₹6,753 per tonne. Blended retail margin for petrol and diesel was a profit of ₹2.8 per litre in the December quarter.
HPCL's refining throughput for the quarter of 5.3 MT grew by 10.6% from last year but fell 7% sequentially. Marketing sales were up 5.8% from last year to 11.9 MT and 10.8% compared to the September quarter.
Shares of HPCL are trading 7.2% lower at ₹420.15.
(Edited by : Amrita)
First Published: Jan 25, 2024 1:52 PM IST
