Essar Oil has posted a 72% decline in its net profit at Rs 180 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010, compared with Rs 660 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. For the full year ended March 31, 2010, net profit stood at Rs 29 crore. The company had reported a loss of Rs 514 crore in the financial year 2008-09.
Total income of the company stood at Rs 10,482 crore for the fourth quarter compared with Rs 6,815 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, an increase of 35%. The full year 2010 saw revenues of Rs 36,628 crore compared with Rs 37,652 crore.
Explaining the lacklustre Q4 performance, Naresh Nayyar, managing director, Essar Oil, said: ?We saw refining margins bottoming out in the last quarter. With the margins improving this quarter, we are hopeful that the refining business is gradually coming out of doldrums. In India, the demand for gasoline is growing at approximately 14% and diesel at 9%. These are expected to have a positive impact on our bottom line.?
The oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat?s Jamnagar district has achieved a throughput of 13.5 MMT in FY 2010. With a capacity utilisation of 129%, it is the second-largest private sector refinery in India.
Essar Oil has signed an agreement with Cairn Energy for offtake of Mangala crude produced from the latter?s oil block in the Barmer basin of Rajasthan. All associated facilities for the receipt of this crude are almost ready. Supplies are expected to begin from May this year, the company said.
At 13.17 MMT, the total volume of sales in FY 2010, including domestic sales and exports, was higher by 17% than 11.27 MMT recorded in 11 months of the FY09. Retail sales of HSD and MS were the highest ever recorded since Essar entered the retail business. Rising crude prices later in the year proved to be an impediment to higher sales volumes.
Meanwhile, in a separate filing to the BSE, the oil major said that its board of directors, at its meeting held on April 13, approved resignation of Ravikant N Ruia, vice-chairman, with effect from March 30.
Essar Oil?s parent firm Essar Energy said last week it plans to raise $2.5 billion (around Rs 11,250 crore) through an IPO and would list on the London Stock Exchange.