Indian Oil Corp Q3 Results: Profit Surges To Rs 8,063 Crore

IOC's revenue from operations was marginally lower at Rs 2.23 lakh crore in October-December from Rs 2.28 lakh crore a year back on lower oil prices

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday logged a sharp rise in its third quarter (Q3) net profit, as compared to the year-ago period. According to an exchange filing, IOC's standalone net profit of Rs 8,063.39 crore in October-December 2023-24 was higher than Rs 448.01 crore profit in the same period a year ago but lower than Rs 12,967.32 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended September 30, 2023.

The state-run OMC's profit was helped by a boost in marketing margins as a freeze on petrol and diesel price revision despite a fall in input crude oil prices helped recover losses incurred when rates were high in 2022-23. Pre-tax earnings from sale of petroleum products soared to Rs 11,428.88 crore in Q3 of the current fiscal compared to Rs 1,541.95 crore in the same period last year.

IOC uses mostly imported crude oil to make fuels such as petrol, diesel and LPG at its refineries. These are then sold through its vast network of petrol pumps and LPG distributor agencies.

In 2022, state-owned fuel retailers IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) froze prices despite a spike in global oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This was with a view to insulating consumers from price volatility.

For nine months (April to December 2023), IOC posted a net profit of Rs 34,781.15 crore as against a loss of Rs 1,816.87 crore last year. The nine-month earning is more than the highest ever net profit the company posted in 2021-22.

IOC's revenue from operations was marginally lower at Rs 2.23 lakh crore in October-December from Rs 2.28 lakh crore a year back on lower oil prices. The company said the profit in the nine months was higher "mainly on account of higher marketing margin and lower exchange losses." IOC said it earned $13.26 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in April-December 2023 against a gross refining margin of $21.08 in the corresponding period last year. It did not give quarterly refining margins.

IOC Chairman S M Vaidya said the OMC sold 72.27 million tonne of petroleum products, including exports, during the period April-December. "Our refining throughput for the first nine months of FY 2023-24 was 55.02 million tonne and the throughput of the corporation's countrywide pipelines network was 77.03 million tonne during the period."