NEW DELHI: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has reported an 85 per cent jump in net profit for the March 2017 quarter on the back of higher refining margins. The oil major reported a net profit of Rs 3,721 crore in the January-March 2017 quarter compared to Rs 2,006 crore during the same period last year.
“We took special efforts at different levels during refining and that has helped us save more than Rs 1,000 crore,” said B Ashok, chairman, IOC. The firm earned $8.95 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel against a gross refining margin of $2.99 a barrel in the year-ago quarter.
For the full financial year, it posted its highest ever net profit of Rs 19,106 crore. It had reported a profit of Rs 11,242 crore in 2015-16.
The board of directors recommended a final dividend of 10 per cent (Rs 1 per share). This is in addition to the interim dividend of 180 per cent (Rs 18 a share) paid during the year.
The company said that it sold 83,490 million tonnes of products during 2016-17. “The future value drivers for IOC will be the construction of Ennore LNG terminal, bio CNG and the pioneering work to make LNG a road transport fuel,” said Ashok.
It has secured the investment approvals of Rs 4,497 crore for Ennore- Thiruvallur-Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Tuticorin natural gas, among others, during 2016-17.
The company saved Rs 1,000 crore by reducing the input cost, optimising logistics, progressive pricing strategies and revamping risk mitigation. Ashok added that the company released 1.5 crore LPG connections during 2016-17.
Commenting on the company’s expansions abroad, he said IOC has plans for deeper southeast Asia engagement and that it will set up LPG import terminals in Bangladesh.