COVID-19 Profitability in FY20 impacted due to inventory

losses in March, says NRL chief
    Guwahati, Aug 10 (PTI) The profitability of Numaligarh
Refinery Ltd was adversely impacted in the last fiscal due to
inventory losses in March, as crude oil prices had reached a
new low in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an official
said on Monday.
    The company's revenue from operations had dipped to Rs
14,073 crore during the 2019-20 fiscal as compared to Rs
18,511 crore in the previous year due to lower sales volume
and reduction in prices of petroleum products in the
international market, its chairman D Rajkumar said, while
addressing the virtual annual general meeting.
    The petroleum major's net profit was down to Rs 1,381
crore during the last financial year from Rs 1,968 crore in
the previous year, he said.
    However, Rajkumar said NRL's net worth stood at Rs
5,304 crore as on March 31, 2020.
    The company has a near-zero debt position and
favourable credit ratings, which will help raise funds for its
upcoming refinery expansion project, he said.
    "On the positive side, the crisis has thrust upon us
opportunities to break free from the conventional ways in
which we have been carrying out our business and also to
explore other possibilities to stay current and relevant.
    "The last few months have been tough with most of our
efforts focussed on adapting to the changing circumstances
that have unfolded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,"
Rajkumar said.
    On the physical front, the production had dipped with
the refinery processing 2,383 TMT of crude Oil as compared to
2,900 TMT in the previous year.
    The decline was due to refinery-turn-around undertaken
after a gap of four years and lower capacity utilisation
during March 2020 due to COVID-19, he said.
    "Overall, in terms of production efficiency, NRL
continues to be in the league of best-performing refineries in
the country with one of the highest distillate yield, lowest
specific energy consumption and high gross refining margin
(GRM)," Rajkumar said.
    Overall sales volume during 2019-20 was 2,361 TMT, he
said.
    "The country's first 2G bamboo-based biorefinery being
executed through a JV with Finnish collaborators has also
recorded adequate progress on the ground," Rajkumar said.
    NRL managing director S K Barua said the strict
monitoring of the projects is being done but its scheduled
completion and commissioning will also depend on "the
lockdown, travel restrictions, logistic disruptions and
migrant worker availability".
    The contribution of NRL to the central and state
exchequers in the form of taxes, duties and dividends during
the 2019-20 fiscal was at Rs 3,361 crore. PTI DG
BDC BDC

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)