Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the public sector oil and gas company announced a 91 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 716.82 crores as a result of the plunge in global crude prices, government’s mandate to absorb losses and declining refinery margin. The oil company has reported a net profit of Rs. 7,883 crore a year earlier.
IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, the three state-owned oil and gas companies were required to take a price cut in October, hurting their margins as the government tried to reduce the impact of high crude oil prices on consumers.
According to the company’s statement, the Average Gross Refining Margin for the period April- December 2018 stood at $ 5.83 per barrel as compared to $ 8.28 per barrel in April- December 2017.
Indian Oil during the October-December quarter reported total revenue growth of 21 per cent to Rs 1.6 lakh crores as against Rs 1.32 lakh crore reported in the year-ago quarter. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), however, fell 47 per cent to Rs 3,609 crore. The operating margin also contracted 250 basis points to 2.58 per cent.