MRPL's net profit is Rs 362 crore in first quarter

The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has registered a net profit of Rs 362 crore, for the first quarter of the financial year 2018-19.

Addressing media persons, MRPL Chairman Shashi Shanker said that last year, the MRPL had posted a profit of Rs 234 crore in the corresponding period.

The profit posted before the tax is Rs 562 crore in the first quarter of this year. Last year, it was Rs 332 crore. The profit has increased by 54.6%, he added.

He said that the gross turnover during the first quarter is Rs 16,573 crore. It was Rs 14,491 crore during 2017-18.

The MRPL, in 2017-18, registered a turnover of Rs 63,067 crore and the earned profit after deducting tax was Rs 2,224 crore. The Gross Refining Margin (GRM) stood at dollar 7.54 a barrel. The board of the company has recommended a dividend of 30% on the back of sustained profits in the past three years notwithstanding significant volatility in the crude oil prices.

He said the company’s polypropylene production and despatch were 294.5 TMT and 278.16 TMT respectively as against 264 TMT and 263.6 TMT in the financial year 2016-17.

Shanker said the company has increased its strong market presence by way of direct marketing of its products pet coke, sulphur, and polypropylene. The company is increasing the product grades of polypropylene to enhance polypropylene market share and thereby fetch higher margins, he said.

He said in order to reduce reliance on freshwater and to provide MRPL with flexibility for future expansions, a Reverse Osmosis (RO)-based desalination plant of 13 MGD capacity is also being set up. The MRPL has already installed an additional RO plant of 3.4 MGD capacity with a financial implication of Rs 10.30 crore for processing the municipal sewage, he added.