State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday reported a multi-fold jump in its consolidated net profit on an annual basis at ₹9,030 crore during the October-December quarter aided by higher sales volume and better marketing margins.
The net profit in Q3 FY23 was lower, as the company was importing crude oil at higher prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war, while retail prices of petrol and diesel were on hold since May 2022.
However, on a sequential basis, net profit fell 31 per cent from ₹13,114 crore in Q2 FY24.
The consolidated total income of India’s largest auto fuel retail stood at ₹2.28-lakh crore in Q3 FY24 compared with ₹2.34-lakh crore in Q3 FY23 and ₹2.06-lakh crore in Q2 FY24.
Its consolidated total expenses stood at ₹2.17-lakh crore in Q3 FY24 (₹2.34 lakh crore), while it was ₹1.88-lakh crore in Q2 FY24.
Indian Oil Chairman, S M Vaidya, said that the company sold 72.272 million tonnes (MT) of products, including exports during April–December 2023. “Our refining throughput for the first nine months of FY24 was 55.026 MT and the throughput of the corporation’s countrywide pipelines network was 74.033 MT during the period. The gross refining margin (GRM) during the period April–December 2023 was $13.26 per barrel compared with $21.08 a barrel in the corresponding period of the previous financial year,” he added.
Core GRM
In its filing to the stock exchanges, IOC said the core GRM or the current price GRM for April-December 2023, after offsetting inventory loss/ gain, stood at $11.73 per barrel.
Against this, the average GRM for April-September 2023 was $13.12 per barrel against $25.49 a year-ago. The core GRM after offsetting inventory loss/ gain was $12.60 a barrel.
IOC’s average GRM for April-June 2023 was $8.34 per barrel (against April-June 2022: $31.81 per barrel). Its core GRMs after offsetting inventory loss/ gain stood at $9.05 per barrel.
For Q3 FY24, Indian Oil’s product sales volumes, including exports, was 24.621 MT. This is against 23.244 MT in Q2 FY24 and 24.305 MT in Q3 FY23.
The refining throughput was 18.502 MT (17.772 MT in Q2 FY24 and 18.202 MT in Q3 FY23) and the throughput of its countrywide pipelines network was 25.212 MT during Q3 FY24 (23.870 MT in Q2 FY24 and 23.801 MT in Q3 FY23).
Buffer account
IOC, in its consolidated results filing on the BSE, said the Oil Ministry had conveyed to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) that where Market Determined Price (MDP) of LPG cylinders is less than its Effective Cost to Customer (ECC), the OMCs will retain the difference in a separate buffer account for future adjustment. However, as on March 31, 2023, the holding company had a cumulative net negative buffer of ₹2,220 crore as the retail selling price was less than MDP. The same have been recognised as a part of revenue from operation upon its recovery during the period April to December 2023.