State owned oil and gas company Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Wednesday reported near 91 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 716.82 crore, due to decline in refining margins and inventory losses amid fall in oil prices.
"The company reported a net profit of Rs 7,883.22 crore in the same quarter last year," IOC said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
During October-December quarter, total revenue of the company grew by 21 per cent to Rs 1.6 lakh crore against Rs 1.32 lakh crore reported in the year ago quarter.
The oil marketing companies were forced to cut oil prices in October, hurting their margins as the government wanted to cushion the impact of high crude oil prices on consumers, Reuters reported.
Average gross refining margin slipped to $5.83 per barrel in the April-December period from $8.28 per barrel in the year-ago period, dented by fall in international oil prices.
Also Read: Axis Bank profit jumps 131% to Rs 1,681 crore in Q3; beats estimates
The earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortisation declined 47 per cent to Rs 3,609.50 crore against Rs 6,761.8 crore in the last quarter.
The board of directors of the company at its meeting today approved a 1:1 bonus share.
Following the earnings, shares of IOC were trading at Rs 135.60 apiece, down 1.38 per cent, on the Bombay Stock Exchange at 14:35 hours.Edited by Chitranjan Kumar