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July 22 (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss for the first time since the three months ended September 2022 as a sharp spike in crude prices weighed on profitability.
Here are details from the state-run company's earnings report:
• The state-run refiner posted a net loss of 115.26 billion rupees ($1.19 billion) for the first quarter, against a profit of 43.71 billion rupees a year ago.
• Average global Brent crude oil prices were about 45% higher than in the year-ago quarter due to the Middle East conflict, dragging marketing margins of oil marketing companies as they were forced to sell fuel below cost.
• Marketing margins on petrol and diesel averaged negative 10.6 rupees/litre and negative 18.4 rupees per litre during the quarter, according to analysts at Jefferies.
• HPCL's total expenses jumped 42.7% to 1.64 trillion rupees, with cost of raw materials consumed surging 74%.
• Fuel demand weakened in India, the world's third-largest importer and consumer of oil, with consumption declining 4.6%, 6.5%, and 3.1% year-on-year in April, May, and June, respectively.
• The firm's sale of products rose about 21% to 1.45 trillion rupees, helped by a compensation worth 19.80 billion rupees from the government for losses in the liquefied petroleum gas segment.
• Earlier in the day, peer BPCL also reported its first quarterly loss in 15 on higher crude costs.
($1 = 96.5650 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Janane Venkatraman)
