Despite Indian Oil Corporation reporting a net loss of Rs 330 crore in September compared to an estimated net profit of Rs 380 crore by Nomura, shares of oil marketing companies like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and IOC are trading up 1-2 per cent.
BPCL was up 0.92 per cent or Rs 8.10 at Rs 884.60, HPCL rose 1.85 per cent or Rs 14.55 to Rs 799.05 and IOC rose 1.18 per cent or Rs 4.75 at Rs 406.20 on the BSE in late morning trade.
Nomura expects September quarter to be a difficult one for other two OMCs as well due to robust performance in last two consecutive quarters, fall in crude prices and rupee depreciation. "OMCs were likely to report high inventory/forex losses," it said.
The Japanese brokerage firm sees better times in the medium term due to stable crude oil/rupee, improving Singapore refining margins and recent increase in discounts on crude being offered by OPEC countries to Asian refiners.