IOC Q1 net up 11 pc, loses Rs 90cr/day on sale of petro products

New Delhi, July 30 (UNI) State-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) today posted an 11.09 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 1,468.41 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2007 from Rs 1,321.82 for the corresponding period previous year.

''The results are backed by robust refining margins, inventory gains and foreign exchange gains,'' IOC Chairman S Behuria told reporters here today.

The company suffered a net under realisation of Rs 4,879 crore on sale of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG during the first quarter as against Rs 5,504 crore during the same period last year.

''We are losing Rs 5.88 per litre on petrol, Rs 4.80 on diesel, Rs 14.63 on kerosene and Rs 189.14 per cylinder on LPG, amounting to Rs 90 crore loss per day,'' Mr Behuria said.

However, company's borrowings reduced to Rs 22,591 crore in the said period in comparison to Rs 27,083 crore during the corresponding quarter last year.

IOC gained Rs 726 crore in the April-June quarter through foreign exchange benefits, which was Rs 318 crore, in the last quarter.

''We are the largest importers of crude oil in dollar terms and forex borrowings were also high. So we tend to gain,'' the Chairman added.

The refining major will import up to 2,50,000 tonnes of diesel in the current fiscal, company's director (Finance) S V Narasimhan said.

''Some diesel will be imported during the year, provided some shutdowns. We will have to import 0.2-0.25 million tonnes of diesel, assuming a growth of 8-10 per cent in the oil product demands,'' Mr Narasimhan added.

The company will also export 2.4 metric tonnes (MT) of naphtha in FY08, up from 1.6 million tonnes a year earlier.

''Naphtha exports were seen higher as many fertiliser and power units were expected to switch to natural gas as a feedstock,'' Mr Behuria said.

Talking about the company's Ennore LNG project, Mr Behuria said, ''Problem arising on that front is unavailability of long term suppliers and the price of LNG.'' Meanwhile, the company's total income rose by 11.74 per cent to Rs 54,553.01 crore in Q1FY07 from Rs 48,819.68 crore in Q1FY06.

IOC sold 14.68 MT of petroleum products (including gas sales) in the domestic market, besides exporting 0.93 MT in the first quarter of 2007-08. Its seven refineries together achieved a throughput of 12.02 MT and the pipelines network transported 14.60 MT of crude oil and products, during the said quarter.

UNI