Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Tuesday clocked 67 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in standalone net profit to Rs 10,059 crore for the quarter ended (Q4) March 2023 as crude prices cool bolstering refining margins. IOC’s net profit stood at Rs 6,021 crore in the year-ago period. The state-owned oil marketing company's revenue from operations jumped almost 10 per cent YoY to Rs 2.26 lakh crore.
Average gross refining margin (GRM) for April-March 2023 was $19.52 per barrel, compared to $11.25 per barrel in April-March 2022, said the company. However, the suppressed marketing margins of certain petroleum products offset the benefit of increase in GRM. IOC did not disclose its refining margin for the quarter.
The company's board of directors have recommended a final dividend of Rs 3 per equity share for FY23, subject to approval by the members of the company.
Indian Oil has been suffering under recoveries from sale of domestic LPG since FY22. To compensate for this, the Union government approved a one-time grant of Rs 10,801 crore and Indian Oil has recorded this under revenue from operations in FY23.
However, Indian refiners' crude oil processing stayed near all-time highs in March, catering to solid seasonal demand as fuel consumption jumped to a record high, driven by robust economic activity in the world's third-largest oil consumer.
Indian Oil Corporation, along with its unit Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd, controls about a third of India's five million-barrels-per-day refining capacity.
Last week, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, IOC's smaller peer, reported robust profit for the quarter.
Shares of Indian Oil Corporation jumped about 4 per cent to Rs 87.65, their highest since April 2022. That took their year-to-date gains to about 14 per cent, overtaking HPCL's roughly 12 per cent increase this year. Shares of the company closed at Rs 87 apiece, up 3.31 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday.