Oil India Profit Slumps 43% on Lower Crude Realisations and Higher Costs

Oil India Ltd. reported a sharp drop in profit for July–September as lower crude realisations and a jump in costs dragged performance. Standalone net profit fell 43% on the year to ₹10.44 million. Revenue from operations was broadly unchanged at ₹54.57 million compared with ₹55.19 million a year earlier.

The company said the fall in profit was mainly due to weaker crude prices. Crude realisation slipped to 68.19 dollars per barrel from 79.33 dollars a year earlier. As a result, crude revenue eased to ₹35.12 million from ₹39.79 million.

Natural gas offered some support, with revenue rising to ₹14.19 million from ₹13.27 million a year ago. LPG revenue inched up to ₹463,000, while revenue from pipeline transportation improved to ₹4.45 million.

Total expenses increased more than 22% on the year to ₹49.70 million. Statutory levies were down nearly 8% at ₹12.71 million.
Contract costs rose more than 21% to ₹5.22 million, and employee expenses increased 16% to ₹5.26 million. Depreciation, depletion and amortisation costs climbed 15% to ₹5.78 million, while finance costs were up more than 13% at ₹2.60 million. Other expenses jumped 162% to ₹16.94 million from ₹6.46 million.

The increase in costs pulled operating margin down to 13.69% for the quarter from 30.43% a year earlier.
For the six months ended September, standalone net profit was ₹18.58 million, compared with ₹33.01 million a year earlier.

Revenue for the period slipped to ₹104.69 million from ₹113.59 million.
Oil and oil-equivalent gas production stood at 1.65 million tonnes for the quarter, down a little more than 1% on the year. Numaligarh Refinery Ltd., its material subsidiary, processed 753,000 tonnes of crude, up from 683,000 tonnes a year ago.

The board declared an interim dividend of ₹3.50 per share, with the record date on November 21.