BPCL down over 4% on lower-than-expected dividend

MUMBAI: Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) were down 4.5% at Rs 433.25 at 1.30 pm on Wednesday after the oil marketer announced its second interim dividend, which was lower than analysts' expectations.

The state-owned company's board at its meeting on Tuesday declared an interim dividend of Rs 5 per share at a face value of Rs 10 per share. The record date for the dividend is March 27.

"We had believed a higher payout was possible considering stake sale in Numaligarh Refinery, sale of BPCL Trust Shares, which after adjusting for increased stake in Bina refinery implied Rs60/share of net proceeds," said Morgan Stanley, which has an overweight rating on BPCL with a target price of Rs 480.


Morgan Stanley said the second interim dividend declared was similar to other state-owned energy companies like GAIL and Indian Oil Corporation that have announced dividends over the past few days. The firm continues to prefer HPCL and GAIL as fuel demand and petrochemical margins improve with slowing global supply growth.