Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd Q1 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Amit Rustagi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst : My question pertains to how much outstanding we had from the government at the beginning of the year? And where do we stand now on 31st July, that how much we have received out? Unidentified Company Representative As on March 31, 2019, our outstanding was INR 8,700 crores. We have added INR 2,301 crore during the quarter. During the quarter, we received INR 6,799 crores, and balance as on 30th June is INR 4,272 crores.

Question: Amit Rustagi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And sir, recently, we have seen the trend of refining margins going up regionally, so do we see the benefits accruing to us in the coming quarters for both Mumbai and Kochi refinery? Unidentified Company Representative Margins have slightly improved during the month of July, improvement in cash, but the price of crude has gone down, if you see in the last week. And this -- if the trend continues, we might have certain amount of inventory losses during the quarter. I'm not sure, we can't comment.

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Sir, I wanted to know about Bina refinery operating costs. Unidentified Company Representative Bina's [total is] $2.5

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. It is $2.5 you mentioned? Unidentified Company Representative Bina as well as the element was freight also. Hello?

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Any details on the expansion plan at Bina? I assume you will add some capacity there. Unidentified Company Representative (inaudible) has just completed its local debottlenecking project, some 6 million metric tonne per annum to 7.8 million metric tonne per annum in the last year. And we do not have any immediate plan for Bina expansion. Depending upon how demand grows, we will take a call in the near future. Having said that, Bina definitely does have space and other necessary requirements for scaling up from 7.8 to 15, but we will take a call and commit the investment once we see the growth in demand.

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Right. You also had expansion plan on Numaligarh. Could you, please, explain the status of that? Unidentified Company Representative Yes, but the Board has approved our investment in the Numaligarh refinery expanding its capacity from 3 million tonnes to 9 million tonnes, investment of about [INR 22,000 crores]. And we find 2 reasons to justify this investment: one is that the eastern side of the country, the growth in product consumption is much, much higher than what we experienced in the -- compared to other places. And secondly, we expect to get and continue to get the benefit of excise duty benefits, which is available to northeastern refinery.

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Right. Sir, lastly, on Mozambique. Could you explain what's the status now since that FID has been finalized? And how is the JV progressing with the CapEx plan over there? Unidentified Company Representative (inaudible) 2019, and the major contracts are being awarded. Most of the contracts were kept frozen and we were only waiting for the FID announcement (technical difficulty)

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : I didn't get it, sir. Can you please repeat that? Unidentified Company Representative See, we have announced the FID in the month of June of 2019, and all the major contracts and the [ESDs] were actually finalized before that, and all the major contracts have now been awarded in stages. Most of them will get awarded by the -- in this quarter itself. We expect the progress of Mozambique to be very satisfactory. And of course, we have to come out as announced by 2023, or the beginning of 2024 calendar year.

Question: Rohit Ahuja - BOB Capital Markets Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Right. Hello? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. AUGUST 13, 2019 / 5:30AM, BPCL.NS - Q1 2020 Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd Earnings Call Unidentified Company Representative $2.5 billion at the consolidated level will be our share of CapEx for Mozambique.