Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) reported a net profit of Rs 5,860.8 crore on a standalone basis for the quarter ended December 31, recording a 19.2% rise from the same period a year ago. The state-run oil refining and marketing company attributed the increase in profit to higher refinery margins. The rise in profit was also supported by the company’s tax expenses falling 43.8% annually to Rs 1,618.8 crore in the quarter. IOCL’s board on Monday has also declared an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share for FY22. This is in addition to the Rs 5 per equity share interim dividend paid during the period by the company.
While revenue increased 34.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 1.98 lakh crore, expenses — mostly comprising of crude oil purchases — grew by a sharper 36.5% to Rs 1.91 lakh crore in the same period. The price of the Indian basket of crude in the international market fluctuated between $70 per barrel and $85 per barrel in the quarter.
IOCL sold 22.6 million tonne (mt) of petroleum products in the quarter, marking an annual drop of 1.9%. “The refining throughput was 17.4 mt and the throughput of the corporation’s countrywide pipelines network was 21.8 mt during the quarter,” IOCL chairman SM Vaidya, said. Both the refining and pipeline throughputs were marginally lower than the corresponding figures in the same quarter in FY21.
In the nine-month period ending December 31, IOCL’s gross refining margin was $8.52 per barrel as compared to $2.96 per barrel in corresponding period of previous financial year. The refining margin figures for the third quarter were not provided separately. Prices of petrol charged to dealers by state-run oil marketing companies, including IOCL, have remained unchanged since November 4, 2021 even as the price of the Indian basket of crude fell from the level of $83.7/barrel on November 2 to $69.8/barrel on December 20 and increased again to $88.8/barrel by January 27.
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