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Informist, Monday, Apr. 28, 2025

By J. Navya Sruthi and Sourabh Kumar

MUMBAI – Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. plans capital expenditure of about INR 10 billion in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), with 50% allocated for refinery maintenance and catalyst replacement, Managing Director M. Shyamprasad Kamath said in a post-earnings analyst conference call on Monday. The company, in which Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. has over 71% stake and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. has around 17% stake, plans similar capital expenditure in FY27 too, he said.

The company does not see any threat to its domestic sales from the refinery of HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd. in Rajasthan, due to robust growth in demand for diesel and motor spirit, Kamath said. HPCL Rajasthan Refinery is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. and the Rajasthan government with an equity participation of 74% and 26%, respectively.

"The recent projections or the reports which have come out from PPAC (Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell) indicate a robust growth in terms of both MS (motor spirit) and diesel, where they have indicated motor spirit growth in the range of around 6.5% and diesel to grow around 3%. So, with that kind of growth, we are very confident that we'll be able to improve our domestic sales."

MRPL's debt-to-equity ratio in FY25 was 0.99%, and Kamath expects it to stay around 1% for the next two years.

The company's net profit for the March quarter slumped nearly 70% on year to INR 3.63 billion due to lower sales and higher cost of materials. It reported a net profit of only INR 505.80 million for FY25, sharply lower than the net profit of INR 35.96 billion for FY24.

Kamath said the company's focus is on improving value added products. "We have tried to manage our value addition through maximisation on whichever products are bringing more economics like the aviation turbine fuel or the benzene." The company produced 2.72 million tonnes of aviation turbine fuel in FY25, higher than 2.09 million tonnes in FY24. Similarly, production of benzene was also higher in FY25 at 210,000 tonnes, compared with 130,000 tonnes the year before.

The company is targeting throughput of 300,000 kilo litres in FY26 through retail outlets, up from 230,000 kilo litres in FY25. The company opened 66 retail outlets in FY25, taking the total to 167 outlets.

The company's throughput, including crude oil and other commodities, was 4.64 million tonnes for the March quarter, against 4.60 million tonnes in the year-ago period. The company's throughput in FY25 was 18.18 million tonnes, higher than 16.59 million tonnes a year ago.

Talking about the company's focus on domestic market, Kamath said it is always "better" to sell in the domestic market and only target the global market when domestic demand is "fully exhausted".

On talk about MRPL's likely merger with HPCL, Kamath said the management is not aware of any such developments. "Even if there are any such development, it is the two promoters who have to ultimately take the call."

At 1442 IST, shares of MRPL were down 1.7% at INR 134.85 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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