IOC posts profit; IBP back in black

NEW DELHI: Thanks to falling international prices and the government bail-out in the form of bonds, the purely petroleum marketing company IBP Ltd has reported a turnaround in the third quarter even as its parent Indian Oil Corporation recorded a profit of Rs 1,059 crore compared to a loss of Rs 6.48 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. 

IBP recorded a profit of Rs 732 crore that more than wiped out Rs 625-crore loss incurred in the first half of the year. The company’s profit during the three quarters stood at Rs 107 crore.

IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria said the under-recovery on all the four products for the three quarters of the current fiscal was Rs 3,524 crore after considering Rs 2,533 crore bonds and Rs 7,168 crore bonds. The company hopes losses on diesel sales will turn positive from February 1.“Based on the average price of second fortnight, we expect that margins on petrol will increase by Re 1 a litre and that on diesel will turn positive,” Behuria said at a press conference here.