CPCL hopeful of maintaining margins in FY17 if crude is stable

While Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL) reported halving of its June quarter net profit on lower refinery margin, the management expects crude throughput to improve in the coming quarters.

CPCL’s standalone net profit of Rs 469.8 crore was 49.25 percent lower than Rs 925.7 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. It earned USD 8.02 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel as against a gross refining margin (GRM) of USD 10.09 last year. CPCL's refineries processed 2.64 million tonnes of crude oil in the first quarter compared with 2.84 MT a year ago.

The company has been facing inventory losses due to fall in crude prices, B Ashok, Chairman of CPCL told CNBC-TV18. He added that the company’s core GRMs for FY17 should be at current levels if crude prices are stable.

Unlike in the past two years, the company doesn’t expect any sharp fall in crude prices going ahead, he said.Watch video for more...