Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has reported a 72 percent year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,297 crore for second quarter of financial year 2024-25, amid reduced refining margins and lower cracks.

The state-run oil retailer had posted profit of Rs 8,243 crore in the same period last year. Sequentially, the net profit was down 19 percent, the company said on October 25.

Its revenue from operations remained flat at Rs 1.18 lakh crore against Rs 1.17 lakh crore in the previous year.

BPCL shares closed 4.82 percent lower at Rs 305.95 a piece on BSE.

The average gross refining margin (GRM) of the company for the half year ended September 30 was $6.12 per barrel, compared to $15.42 a barrel last year.

The company’s board also decided to not pursue raising of capital through rights issue “owing to improved internal generation of funds and also the communication received from MoP&NG regarding non allocation of funds for capital support of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the budget 2024-25 and hence Government of India’s non participation in the issue.”

The company’s throughput was 10.28 million metric tonne (MMT) during the quarter, compared to 9.35 MMT last year.

On the marketing front, BPCL achieved quarterly market sales of 12.39 MMT during July-Sept 2024 from 12.19 MMT in last year. Exports in the quarter came in at 0.40 MMT.

In the first half of the current financial year, BPCL added 541 new fuel stations, taking their network strength to 22,380. BPCL added seven new distributors, taking LPG distributor network strength to 6,256 and the customer base increased to 9.52 crore. The company also commissioned 91 CNG (compressed natural gas) stations commissioned in H1FY25, taking the total CNG stations to 2,120.