BPCL on Wednesday reported a standalone loss of Rs 3,962 in the first quarter. The company had reported a profit of Rs 6,124 crore in the last year quarter. Revenue from operations in the reporting period increased 23% YoY to Rs 1.59 lakh crore.
Total income stood at Rs 1.6 lakh crore, compared with Rs 1.30 lakh crore in the year-ago period and Rs 1.36 lakh crore in the previous quarter. The company's total expenses rose sharply to Rs 1.66 lakh crore from Rs 1.22 lakh crore a year earlier. In the March quarter, total expenses stood at Rs 1.27 lakh crore.
The rise in expenses was led by higher cost of materials consumed, purchase of stock-in-trade, and changes in inventories. Cost of materials consumed increased to Rs 90,588 crore from Rs 53,686 crore in the same quarter last year. Purchase of stock-in-trade stood at Rs 65,348 crore, compared with Rs 40,783 crore a year earlier.
Changes in inventories of finished goods, stock-in-trade and work-in-progress stood at Rs 18,368 crore, compared with a negative Rs 1,335 crore in the year-ago quarter. This was a key factor behind the pressure on profitability.
Excise duty stood at Rs 8,250 crore, lower than Rs 17,063 crore a year earlier. Employee benefits expense was Rs 832 crore, compared with Rs 902 crore in the same quarter last year.
Finance costs rose to Rs 415 crore from Rs 373 crore. Depreciation and amortisation expense increased to Rs 2,066 crore from Rs 1,882 crore, while other expenses stood at Rs 6,906 crore, compared with Rs 6,145 crore.
BPCL reported a loss before exceptional items and tax of Rs 5,305 crore, against a profit of Rs 8,156 crore in the same quarter last year. Loss before tax also stood at Rs 5,305.18 crore, compared with profit before tax of Rs 8,156 crore a year earlier.
On the operational side, refinery throughput stood at 10.15 million metric tonnes, lower than 10.42 million metric tonnes in the same quarter last year and 10.40 million metric tonnes in the March quarter.
Market sales stood at 13.62 million metric tonnes, slightly higher than 13.58 million metric tonnes a year earlier. Export sales stood at 0.51 million metric tonnes, compared with 0.45 million metric tonnes in the year-ago quarter.
Domestic market sales growth was 0.29% during the quarter, compared with 3.19% in the same quarter last year.
