Indian Oil reports first quarterly loss in four years after inventory hit
Indian Oil Corp Ltd, the country’s top refiner, on Wednesday reported its first quarterly loss in more than four years in the March quarter, after a surge in inventory losses following a sharp fall in crude oil prices.
Chairman Sanjiv Singh said the fall in global prices impacted the group’s financial performance for the January-March quarter as the company holds about 45 days inventory.
Inventory losses are booked when oil prices fall by the time a company processes oil into fuel. Brent crude oil prices fell 65.6% during the March quarter.
Head of finance Sandeep Kumar Gupta said in January-March, Indian Oil registered inventory losses of 146.92 billion rupees, against a gain of 26.55 billion rupees a year earlier.
