IOC slides 4%; auto fuel sale losses, petrochemicals margin squeeze pull down Q4 PAT

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s biggest oil firm, dropped 3.9 per cent in early trade Wednesday as record refining margins were wiped away because of a margin squeeze in petrochemicals and losses on auto fuel sales, hitting the bottomline in Jan-Mar quarter.

The oil marketing company said its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March stood at Rs 6,645.72 crore, down 26.37 per cent from Rs 9,026.49 crore in the same quarter last year.

Its revenue from operations, however, climbed 26.13 per cent from Rs 165,734.27 crore in the corresponding quarter last year to Rs 209,049.16 crore.

IOC’s scrip fell to a low of Rs 119.55 as against Rs 124.40 at previous close on the BSE.

The company said its average gross refining margin (GRM) for April- March 2022 was $11.25 per barrel (April- March 2021: $5.64 per barrel). The core GRM or the current price GRM for April - March 2022 after offsetting inventory loss/ gain comes to $7.61 per barrel.

The company also said it would issue shares in the ratio of 1:2, i.e., one new bonus equity share for every two existing equity shares.

The allocation is subject to the approval of shareholders through postal ballot. The board has fixed July 1, 2022 as record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders to receive bonus shares.

The board of the company also recommended a final dividend of Rs 3.60 per equity share having face value of Rs 10 each (pre-bonus), which translates into final dividend of Rs 2.40 per equity share having face value of Rs 10 each (post-bonus) for financial year 2021-22.

The final dividend would be paid within 30 days from the date of declaration at the AGM. The final dividend is in addition to the Interim Dividend(s) of Rs 9.00 per share (pre-bonus) paid for the financial year 2021-22.