IOC Q1 net down 45% to Rs 4,549 cr, GRM more than halves to $4.32

The company's total income zoomed 20% to Rs 1,29,418 crore

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has posted a 45 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 4,548.51 crore for the April-June quarter of financial year 2017-18, as against Rs 8,268.98 crore during the corresponding quarter in FY17.

The reason for the drop in net profit was due to a higher inventory loss of Rs 2,033 crore for the quarter under review, compared to an inventory gain of Rs 3,785 crore in the year-ago quarter. A dip in gross refining margin (GRM) is also seen as a reason for the decline in profit. The average GRM for the quarter under review stood at $4.32 per barrel, while the GRM for April to June 2016-17 was $9.98 a barrel.

The company’s total income for the quarter, however, zoomed 20 per cent to Rs 1,29,418.11 crore in the June quarter, compared to Rs 1,07,670.95 crore during the corresponding quarter of 2016-17. 

During the first quarter, domestic product sales saw a marginal increase 20.736 million tonne (mt), as against 20.415 mt during the corresponding period in the previous financial year. During the quarter, the company settled the liability for entry tax in the state of Haryana, which was about Rs 2,808.05 crore.

“Our refining throughput for Q1 2017-18 was 17.521 mt and the throughput of the company’s countrywide pipeline network was 21.351 mt during the same period,” Chairman Sanjiv Singh said.

He did not decline the possibilities of acquisition of Oil India, when asked about the possible companies that IOC would be targeting as part of the integration that the government is planning in the petroleum sector. 

The Union Cabinet had recently cleared the selling of 51.1 per cent government stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation to ONGC.

The company accounted for Rs 876.38 crore from the government as subsidy support for selling kerosene at below-market rate. As on June 30, IOC had a debt of Rs 34,920 crore, down from Rs 54,820 crore in March this year.