State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Tuesday reported 92 per cent slump in its June quarter net profit after oil prices halved and gas rates fell to a decade low. Standalone net profit of Rs 496 crore in April-June was 91.7 per cent lower than Rs 5,980 crore net profit a year back, the company said in a statement.
The surprise profit came after the company delayed payment of cess on crude oil it produces. Initially, the company did not pay even royalty in anticipation of relief from the government to deal with a slump in oil prices. It cleared royalty payments at June-end but cess payments were done only in July.
