State-owned Oil India on Tuesday reported a 30.5% jump in net profit in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011, to R563 crore, despite a steep rise in fuel subsidy burden. During the 2010-11 fiscal, the oil exploration major?s net profit was up 10% to R2,888 crore.
Net sales increased to R 2,019 crore in the quarter under review compared with R 1,832 crore in the comparable quarter of 2009-10 fiscal. In the 2010-11 fiscal, net sales jumped to R8,303 crore compared to R7,906 crore in the previous fiscal.
The rise in net profit comes despite steep discounts given to fuel retailers IOC, HPCL and BPCL on crude oil sales. Oil India paid R3,293 crore to retailers to subsidise diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene in 2010-11, against R1,549 crore in the previous year.
Oil India chairman N.M. Borah told reporters after the company?s board meeting here that crude production had gone up in 2010-11 financial year in spite of the fact that one of its refineries went through a prolonged shut down.
?Despite a 1,30,000 tonne crude production loss, at the end of the year, we have a marginal but significant growth in output to 3.63 million tonnes, which show a half per cent increase in output,? Borah said.
The chairman said the company has been able to make six oil and gas discoveries in North East, which has added 8.5 million tonne of oil and oil equivalent of gas to the company.
Oil India has also had some tentative discussions on a follow-on public offer. The company is also planning to buy hydrocarbon yielding assets abroad or companies with niche expertise that would be a strategic fit, Borah said.