Bharat Petroleum to raise Rs 18,000 crore via rights issue of shares

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has received the board’s go-ahead to raise up to Rs 18,000 crore through rights issue of shares to eligible shareholders.

The funds will be raised subject to receiving all the statutory approvals, the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.

On Wednesday's close, shares of BPCL settled 2.11 per cent higher at Rs 365.85 apiece on the NSE ahead of the company's board meeting. On Tuesday, the shares of BPCL ended 0.52 per cent higher at Rs 360.20 apiece on the BSE.

Earlier this month, BPCL had informed exchanges that its board of directors will consider the various modalities for capital infusion including rights issues for achieving energy transition, net zero, and energy security objectives. 

A rights issue is a method of raising capital by inviting existing shareholders to purchase additional new shares in the company.

The detailed terms of rights issue including but not limited to the issue price, right entitlement, record date, timing, and terms of payment will be intimated separately after approval of the Board in due course, the company said in the filing. 

In March, BPCL had announced raising Rs 935 crore through the issue of NCDs to eligible investors.

In Q4 FY23, the state-owned oil refiner stated that its net profit was Rs 6,780 crore in the quarter ended March 2023, registering a growth of 168 per cent from Rs 2,559 crore in the year-ago period, mostly due to a recovery in fuel marketing margins. 

The company's revenue from operations in Q4FY23 rose 8 per cent to Rs 1.33 lakh crore from Rs 1.23 lakh crore, YoY.

BPCL had also declared a dividend of Rs 4 per share for financial year 2023.

BPCL to shut half of Mumbai refinery

On Tuesday a company spokesman told Reuters, Bharat Petroleum plans to shut down half of its crude processing capacity at its 240,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Mumbai refinery in western India for a month from September 21 for maintenance.

The refiner plans to shut a 120,000 bpd crude unit, a fluid catalytic cracker (FCCU), continuous catalytic reformer, and a catalytic cracker among other units at the refinery, he said.

The refiner also plans to shut a bitumen unit there for 15 days from mid-August, he said.

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