Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) surged to a 52-week high in early trade after the company reported strong Q4 results on Wednesday.
Source: Wikipedia
Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Thursday hit a 52-week high of Rs 488 after rising 3 per cent in morning trade. The development comes a day after the company reported strong results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Q4FY21).
The company reported a net profit of Rs 11,940 crore in the March quarter, including one-time gain of Rs 6,993 crore. It had posted a net loss of Rs 1,361 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
The profit reported by the company can be largely attributed to inventory gains besides the sharp recovery it saw in the second half of FY21 due to higher fuel sales.
In a note on the company’s results, ICICI Securities said fuel demand reached near normal levels in Q4FY21, indicating that this was one of the reasons behind the company’s strong performance.
However, the brokerage experts the second wave of Covid-19 and subsequent restrictions to affect fuel demand in the current quarter. This means the profitability of BPCL and other oil companies could be impacted in the first quarter of FY22.
“Improvement in GRMs and further recovery in fuel demand will be important for BPCL’s profitability in the near term. The progress on divestment and response by potential bidders will be the key monitorable for the stock price performance,” ICICI Securities said.
RECORD DIVIDEND PAYOUT BY BPCL
Another reason why the company’s shares touched an intraday high of Rs 488 in early trade was due to the record dividend payout approved by its board for shareholders.
It may be noted that BPCL’s board approved a final dividend of Rs 58 per share, including one-time special dividend of Rs 35 per equity share. The total dividend approved by the company amounts to Rs 12,581.66 crore including the special dividend of Rs 7,592.38 crore.
The company’s stock has been performing well over the past month, gaining at least 15 per cent in comparison to the overall gain in BSE Sensex. At 11:55 am, BPCL shares were trading at Rs 476.45, up 0.90 per cent.
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