Indian Oil Corp net profit drops by 83% in Q2; lower refinery margins, inventory losses to blame

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Thursday reported an 83 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit on the back of a slump in refinery margins and inventory losses. Net profit in July-September at Rs 564 crore was 82.6 per cent lower than Rs 3,247 crore net profit in the year-ago period, IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told reporters here.
“The major reason for the decline in net profit was inventory losses in Q2 as against inventory gain during the corresponding quarter of the previous year,” he said.

The company earned $1.28 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in July-September as compared to a gross refining margin of $6.79 per barrel in Q2 of previous fiscal. Without accounting for inventory losses, the GRM was $3.99 per barrel. He said the company recorded an inventory loss of Rs 1,807 crore in the quarter as opposed to an inventory gain of Rs 2,895 crore.