New Delhi : Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s biggest oil refiner, on Tuesday reported a 40 per cent jump in its net profit for the March quarter on the back of higher refining margin and inventory gains.
The company posted a net profit of Rs 5,218 crore, or Rs 5.51 a share, in the January-March period compared with Rs 3,720.62 crore, or Rs 3.93 a share, in the year-ago period, IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh said.
The company earned $9.12 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 fiscal as compared to $8.95 per barrel gross refining margin a year ago. Besides, the company made an inventory gain of Rs 3,442 crore during the quarter.
Inventory gain arises when a company buys oil at a price but by the time it is able to transport it to refinery, process it and turn it into fuel, the rates move up. Since retail prices are decided on the rate prevalent on the day of sales, there is an inventory gain. There would be an inventory loss if the reverse happen.
IOC’s turnover rose to Rs 1.36 lakh crore in the fourth quarter of last financial year ended March 31, from Rs 1.24 lakh crore in the year-ago period, he said.
The company sold 20.8 million tonnes (MT) of petroleum products during the last quarter of 2017-18, higher than 19.64 MT domestic sales a year-ago. Exports too were up at 1.76 MT from 1.46 MT.
The board recommended a final dividend of Rs 2 per share (20 per cent on the paid up equity share capital) for the financial year 2017-18. This is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 19 per share paid earlier.
