Essar Oil returns to profit in Q4 on refining margins

Moneycotrol Bureau

Essar Oil has returned to profit by posting Rs 200 crore profit for the March quarter, boosted by Rs 25 crore forex gain and higher gross refining margins. The firm had posted Rs 508 crore loss in the year-ago period. Sales,climbed 34 percent YoY to Rs 23,534 on robust output from its Vadinar refinery. The company in a statement said that GRMs for the quarter almost doubled to USD 9.06/bbl reflecting higher complexity benefits post completion of expansion and optimisation of projects. EBITDA was also up five fold to  Rs 1,556 crore YoY. During the quarter, the company’s Vadinar Refinery processed 5.08  million tonne of crude, up 26 percent YoY. Read this: Hold Essar Oil with a target of Rs 95-100: Agarwal L.K. Gupta, managing director and CEO, Essar Oil, said: “During the period under review Vadinar refinery has demonstrated excellent operating performance with a very strong focus on safety and has consistently outperformed the benchmark IEA margins.” Going ahead, the company said it will be more focussed in the domestic market which contributes around 60 percent to overall revenues. The company has re-entered the bulk diesel market, which has been recently deregulated.
The firm is ramping up production at its flagship Raniganj oil block which currently produces standard cubic metres per day.