Indian Oil posts first profit increase in 5 quarters as crude prices cool

Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOC), the country's top refiner, reported its first rise in profit in five quarters on Tuesday, as cooling crude prices bolstered its refining margins, sending its shares to their highest in more than one year.

The state-owned company's profit rose to Rs 10,059 crore ($1.23 billion) in the January-to-March quarter, from Rs 6,022 crore a year earlier.

Analysts had, on average, expected profit to drop to Rs 5,928 crore, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Prices of crude oil, a key raw material for refiners, have corrected from their 2022 peak of $139.13 per barrel in March last year.

The company said its average gross refining margin “its profit from converting oil into refined products” was $19.52 per barrel in the year ended March 31, compared with $11.25 per barrel in the same period a year ago.

IOC did not disclose its refining margin for the quarter.

However, Indian refiners' crude oil processing stayed near all-time highs in March, catering to solid seasonal demand as fuel consumption jumped to a record high, driven by robust economic activity in the world's third-largest oil consumer.

IOC, along with its unit Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd , controls about a third of India's five million-barrels-per-day refining capacity.

IOC's revenue from operations rose almost 10% to Rs 2.26 trillion.

Last week, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, IOC's smaller peer, reported robust profit for the quarter.

IOC's shares jumped about 4% to Rs 87.65, their highest since April 2022. That took their year-to-date gains to about 14%, overtaking HPCL's roughly 12% increase this year.