IOC logs ~17,318-cr loss for Q4

The country’s largest fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday reported a loss of ~17,318 crore for the March quarter (Q4) of 2019-20 (FY20) on the back of inventory losses and low fuel demand. It had recorded a profit before tax of ~9,020 crore in the same quarter in 2018-19.

IOC said there was significant fall in oil prices because of Covid-19 and changes in the oil-market scenario, and this led to a write-down in valuation of inventories below the cost of ~6,855.35 crore for the period.

After taking a longer time, the write-down in valuation of inventories increased to ~11,304.64 crore over one year. In Q4, foreign exchange loss stood at ~4,145.53 crore, against ~1,740.94 crore a year ago.

The longer period was taken as a one-time measure because of the lockdown. IOC recorded inventory loss of ~14,692 crore in Q4, against a gain of ~1,787 crore a year ago, said Chairman Sanjiv Singh said. Its net loss stood at ~8,565.54 crore, against a profit of ~6,003.96 crore in the same period a year ago.

The board approved the proposal for seeking shareholders’ approval to increase the borrowing limits by ~55,000 crore to ~1.65 trillion.

In Q4FY20, the firm posted a negative $9.64 a barrel gross refining margin or what it earns in turning every barrel of crude oil into product, compared to $4.09 in the year-ago period.

After excluding inventory losses, the GRM for Q4FY20 was $2.15. Average GRM for the whole of FY20 fell to $0.08 a barrel as compared to $5.41 a year earlier. The core GRM or the current price GRM for FY20 after offsetting inventory loss/gain stood at $2.64.