Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has reported a ₹6,099.27-crore net profit for the fourth quarter of financial year 2018-2019. This is 16.89 per cent higher than the ₹5,218.10 crore profit reported in the same quarter of financial year 2017-18.

The company’s board recommended a final dividend of ₹1 per share (or 10 per cent on the paid-up equity share capital) for the financial year 2018-19. Total income during the quarter under review stood at ₹1,45,531.78 crore (₹1,36,964.20 crore), a 6.26 per cent increase.

For the full financial year 2018-19, the net profit stood at ₹16,894.15 crore, while the total income was at ₹6,09,052.28 crore. In 2017-18, the total income stood at ₹5,09,842.2 crore, while net profit was at ₹21,346.12 crore.

Commenting on the lower annual profit, Sanjiv Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, said: “There were a lot of price fluctuations, both on crude and products, during the financial year 2018-2019. There were months when there was a price difference of $19-20 per barrel.”

During the last quarter of financial year 2018-19, the gross refining margin (GRM, a measure of the gain per barrel of crude oil processed) stood at $4.09 a barrel compared with $9.12 a barrel in the same period of financial year 2017-18.

For the full fiscal 2018-19, the average gross refining margin stood at $5.41 a barrel. In the fiscal 2017-2018, the GRM was reported at $8.49 a barrel. “The GRM is lower because during the third quarter of financial year 2018-19, gasoline cracks were either negative or close to zero,” Singh said.

Unpaid dues

IndianOil is also facing higher borrowing cost due to unpaid kerosene and LPG subsidy dues from the government. Outstanding borrowing at the end of fiscal 2018-19 stood at ₹86,359 crore. In the preceding fiscal, the outstanding borrowings were reported at ₹58,030 crore.

“The borrowings were higher because of pending dues from the government on direct benefit transfer on LPG, kerosene subsidy and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana payouts. The total dues at the end of fiscal 2018-19 stood at ₹19,000 crore. This was at ₹9,400 crore at the end of fiscal 2017-18,” IndianOil Director (Finance), AK Sharma said. “These borrowings will come down as the Centre clears the dues.”