Indian Oil Q1 net profit drops 47% to Rs 3737 cr on lower refining margins

State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has posted a 47.3 per cent drop in consolidated net profit for the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20 to Rs 3,737.50 crore as compared with Rs 7,092.42 crore during the same time last fiscal year, owing to lower refining margin and inventory gains. 

The company’s total income almost remained flat with an increase of only 0.48 per cent during the quarter under review to Rs 1.53.11 trillion versus Rs 1.52.38 trillion during the April-June quarter of 2018-19. The gross refining margin (GRM) during the first quarter of FY19-20 was $4.69 per bbl as compared to $10.21 per bbl in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh said in a statement. During the April-June period, the company had an inventory gain of Rs 2,362 crore against Rs 7,065 crore during the first quarter of the previous financial year. 

“Indian Oil sold 22.658 million tonnes of products, including exports, during the first quarter of financial year 2019-20. Our refining throughput for Q1 19-20 was 17.283 million tonnes (MT) and the throughput of the corporation’s countrywide pipelines network was 21.851 mt during the year,” Singh said. 

The income for the period also a foreign exchange gain of Rs 94.9 crore during the quarter, as compared to a forex loss of Rs 1,970.79 crore during the April-June 2018 period. Shares of IOC ended 4.2 per cent higher at Rs 139.30 apiece on the BSE.