How were the quarterly results of Bharat Petroleum for the Dec-20 quarter?

Bharat Petroleum Corporation or BPCL reported lower Q3 PAT by -11.9% at Rs.1,565 crore. This fall in profits on a consolidated basis was largely on the back of exceptional losses incurred during the quarter. The top-line revenues were almost flat with 1.59% growth in the Dec-20 quarter at Rs.87,293 crore on a yoy basis.

Gross refining margins or GRMs took a minor hit in the quarter. For the 9-month period ending in Dec-20, the GRM fell from $3.15/bbl to $2.90/bbl, which impacted the growth in the top line, which is largely in the oil refining business. On the oil marketing front, there was pressure on growth from HSD Retail and aviation turbine fuel or ATF.

There were some gains for BPCL coming from sound inventory management practices which helped BPCL to expand its OPM or operating profit margins from 2.39% to 5.02% in Dec-20 quarter. The sharp improvement in inventory management practices actually led to a 112% growth in the operating profits for the quarter.

However, the profit after tax or PAT tapered as BPCL took a hit on two counts. Firstly, there was a charge of Rs.419 crore on account of ESOP expensing during the quarter. Secondly, there was also a hit of Rs.730 crore due to asset impairment provisions for its subsidiary Bharat Petro Resources, along with writing off partial goodwill value of the company.