State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Tuesday reported a return to profitability with a net profit of Rs 12,967.32 crore in the three months to September 30 — more than half of its best-ever annual profit in just one quarter.

The net profit came on the back of a boost in refining and marketing margin.

In July-September 2022, it incurred a loss of Rs 272.35 crore, according to a stock
exchange filing by the company.

Besides robust refining margins, the profit was aided by a boost in marketing margins as a freeze on petrol and diesel price revision despite a fall in input crude oil prices helped recover losses incurred when rates were high last year.

Pre-tax earnings from sale of petroleum products soared to Rs 17,755.95 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal compared with Rs 104.04 crore a year ago.

IOC uses mostly imported crude oil to make fuels such as petrol, diesel and LPG at its refineries. These are then sold through its vast network of petrol pumps and LPG distributor agencies.

Last year, IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) froze prices despite a spike in global oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

GAIL profit jumps

GAIL (India) Ltd on Tuesday reported a 56 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit as bumper earnings from gas transmission and marketing business offset petrochem losses.

Standalone net profit of Rs 2,404.89 crore in July-September, or Rs 3.66 per share, was 54.4 per cent higher than Rs 1,537.07 crore, or Rs 2.34 a share, profit in the same period last year, according to the company’s stock exchange filing.

GAIL saw pre-tax earnings from its mainstay gas transportation business soar 82 per cent to Rs 1,290.65 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal.

Its pre-tax earnings from the marketing of natural gas jumped almost 400 per cent to Rs 1,784.58 crore.

Losses in the petrochemical business narrowed to Rs 160.61 crore from Rs 346.22 crore in July-September 2022.

Revenue from operations dropped to Rs 31,882.62 crore in July-September from Rs 38,490.89 crore on lower gas prices.