IOCL Q4 results: Net profit rises 58% to ₹8,124 crore, revenue down by 1%

Falling expenses, inventory gains, relatively stable GRMs helped push up net profit

State-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) ended the fourth quarter of FY25 (January–March) with a 57.7 per cent higher consolidated net profit of Rs 8,123.64 crore (attributable to the owners), up from the Rs 5,148.87 crore net profit registered in Q4FY24. On a sequential basis, however, the oil marketing company’s net profit rose 284 per cent from the Rs 2,115.29 crore profit recorded in the preceding quarter.

 

The company’s annual net profit stood at Rs 13,597 crore, sharply down 67 per cent from Rs 41,729 crore as a result of falling global crude prices.

 

However, the latest rise in year-on-year net profit in Q4 has been credited to a fall in total expenses, which shrank to Rs 2.12 trillion, down 2.38 per cent from Rs 2.17 trillion in Q4FY24. Also, the oil marketing company (OMC) reported inventory gains, without disclosing the figures. For FY25, it recorded an inventory loss of Rs 2,000 crore. The change in inventory occurs due to the market price of oil changing after a company buys crude.

 

 

Meanwhile, gross refining margins – the revenue refiners accrue from transforming each barrel of crude oil into refined fuel products – also held broadly steady. IOCL reported that the average GRM stood at $7.85 per barrel (/bbl) in Q4, as compared to $8.39/bbl in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The GRM for FY25 stood at $4.8/bbl, significantly down from $12.05/bbl in FY24.

 

However, the company’s revenue from operations did not shrink much in the latest quarter, reducing by 1.1 per cent to Rs 2.22 trillion, compared to Rs 2.25 trillion in Q4FY24.

 

For FY25, Russian crude accounted for 22 per cent of the crude bought by the company, down from 30 per cent in FY24, IOCL officials said. “This was not due to sanctions since sanctions have come only in January 2025. The crude we are buying is totally on a commercial basis. This was a purely commercial decision,” IOCL chairperson Arvinder Singh Sahney said.

 

IOCL had an under-recovery of Rs 19,000 crore for the sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for FY25. On an industry-wide basis, the OMCs are expected to report Rs 30,000 crore of under-recovery in the current financial year, IOCL officials said. The government’s move to hike excise duties on both petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each earlier this month has reduced this figure from an earlier Rs 40,000 crore, they said.

 

Refinery expansions

The first phase of the company’s ongoing refinery expansion in Uttar Pradesh’s Barauni will be commissioned by December 2025, with the next phase to be completed by July 2026, Sahney revealed. Similar projects in Haryana’s Panipat and Gujarat’s Koyali are slated for mechanical completion by December 2025 or by March next year, he said. Together, the company is adding 20–22 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of refining capacity.

 

With a capacity utilisation of 102 per cent, IOCL refineries reported the best-ever distillate rate — or the fraction of crude oil that is successfully distilled and separated into lighter, more volatile products — at 80.6 per cent in FY25.

 

The company’s overall sales volume crossed 100 MMT for the first time in FY25, with a 21 per cent growth in gas sales, followed by 6 per cent growth in petrochemicals and 1.6 per cent in petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL). The throughput in IOCL’s pipeline also crossed 100 MMT for the first time, with the company expanding its network by 260 km to hit the 20,000 km mark.

 

The company’s shares rose 1.58 per cent to Rs 137.9 on Wednesday in intraday trade.