Privatisation-bound fuel retailer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited on Wednesday reported a return to net profit in March quarter at Rs 11,940 crore, which includes one-time gain of Rs 6,993 crore, as against net loss of Rs 1,361 crore in the year-ago period. Profit before exceptional item is at Rs 5,244.5 crore.
Revenue from operations rose 21% to Rs 98,756 crore as compared to Rs 81,296 crore in March 2020.
The company’s board recommended final dividend of Rs 58 per share. The company reported an increase of 15% in revenue and over 17% in EBITDA on a sequential basis.On Wednesday, the company’s scrip on NSE closed nearly 1% lower at Rs 470.25.
Mining-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital’s arm Think Gas are in the race to buy government stake in BPCL.
The stake sale in India’s second-largest fuel retailer is crucial to plans to raise a record Rs 1.75 lakh crore from disinvestment proceeds in fiscal 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022).
BPCL will give the buyer ownership of around 15.33 per cent of India’s oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share.
The buyer of the company will get 35.3 million tonnes of refining capacity — 12 million tonne Mumbai unit, 15.5 million tonne Kochi refinery and 7.8 million tonne Bina unit.
BPCL also owns 18,639 petrol pumps, 6,166 LPG distributor agencies and 61 out of 260 aviation fuel stations in the country.
The firm also has upstream presence with 26 assets in nine countries such as Russia, Brazil, Mozambique, the UAE, Indonesia, Australia, East Timor, Israel and India. It is also making a foray into city gas distribution and has licences for 37 geographical areas (GAs).
