Essar Oil posts lower Q1 loss at Rs.863 crore

Essar Oil, India's second largest private refiner, Wednesday reported that its first quarter loss came down to Rs.863 crore from Rs.1,518 crore in the like period a year ago.

The loss was mainly due to negative forex fluctuations arising out of a 10 percent rupee depreciation during the quarter, Essar said here in a statement.

"The quarter was marked by rupee volatility, which impacted our profitability due to mark-to-market provisions," said Suresh Jain, Essar Oil's chief financial officer.

Revenue increased 12 percent to Rs.24,721 crore during the April-June quarter, compared to Rs.22,109 crore in the same quarter of fiscal 2012-13.

Revenue rose on the back of a 15 percent improvement of throughput, which stood at 5.14 million tonnes during the quarter, against 4.48 million tonnes during the same period in fiscal 2013.

The company said that gross refining margins, that is the difference between the price of crude oil and the value of petroleum products distilled from it, improved to $7.01 per barrel from $4.69 a year earlier.

The Essar Oil-operated refinery at Vadinar in western India handles up to 405,000 barrels per day.

The company's EBITDA was at Rs.1,106 crore compared to negative Rs.178 crore in Q1 of 2012-13.

Jain said the company converted $821 million worth of rupee debt into dollars, of which $340 million was converted through external commercial borrowings and swaps. The total conversion of the company's rupee debt will be completed in the next two quarters.

The Essar Oil stock closed Wednesday at Rs.60.35, that is 4.96 percent or 2.85 points, higher than its previous close on the BSE.