BPCL Q4 preview: Company may report net profit of Rs 1,857 cr aided by inventory gains, demand recovery

The company’s bottomline will be helped by a weak base in the year-ago quarter due to the imposition of national lockdown in March 2020. Further, brokerage firm

expects the company to report inventory gains worth Rs 1,500 crore for the quarter due to rise in global crude oil prices compared to the same period a year ago.

The company’s revenue from operations is likely to jump 19 per cent on-year to Rs 82,128 crore for the reporting quarter, helped by recovery in demand prior to the onset of the second Covid-19 wave.

BPCL will declare its March quarter earnings on Wednesday.

On a sequential basis, the company’s revenue performance is expected to be strong as the industry continued to recover with the gradual unlocking of the economy during the early parts of the March quarter, but the bottomline may suffer.

BPCL’s net profit is likely to fall 33 per cent sequentially due to lower oil marketing margins and inventory gains in the quarter for the company. However, revenues may rise 23 per cent on-quarter.

Brokerage firms expect the company to report a gross refining margin of $4-$5.4 per barrel with $2-$3 per barrel in terms of inventory gains in the quarter.

Besides the company’s earnings, investors will be keen to understand the progress made on the company’s privatization and the identity of investors who have submitted their expression of interest in purchasing the government’s stake.