New Delhi,
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), the nation’s biggest oil firm, on Friday reported a 47 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit as coronavirus pandemic pummelled fuel demand and shrank refinery margins.
Standalone net profit in April-June at Rs 1,910.84 crore, or Rs 2.08 per share, was 46.8 per cent lower than Rs 3,596.11 crore, or Rs 3.92 a share, net profit in the same period of the last financial year, IOC Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya told reporters here. “The variation in net profit is primarily due to inventory losses,” he said.
“We won’t get back to normal times in the near future” due to way pandemic was spreading, he said. With a good part of the quarter being spent under lockdown where vehicular movement was sparse, IOC fuel sales fell 29 per cent to 15.25 million tonnes.
He said petrol demand fell 36 per cent to 2 million tonnes while diesel sales were down 35 per cent at 6.5 million tonnes. With most airlines grounded, ATF sales fell 79 per cent to 0.24 million tonnes. LPG sales however recorded a 15.7 per cent rise due to the government’s free cooking gas scheme for the poor. ( PTI )
