By IANS
New Delhi : India’s biggest petroleum refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has reported a 16.7 percent year-on-year rise in its net profit in the third quarter (Oct-Dec) despite the financial pressure on its bottom line due to the high international price of crude oil.
Following a direction from the government, the state-owned oil marketing companies, including IOC, are holding down retail prices of petrol, diesel and LPG even as the crude oil prices in the international market are surging.
“The company has posted a net profit of Rs.20.9 billion ($531 million) for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2007 as compared to Rs.17.9 billion ($455 million) for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2006,” IOC said Thursday.
The company’s total income increased 15.8 percent during the same period.
“Total income has increased from Rs.564.4 billion ($14.3 billion) for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2006 to Rs.654.1 billion ($16.6 billion) for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2007,” the refining major said.