OIL pre-tax profit jumps two-fold in Q4 over reversal of deferred tax

State-run Oil India (OIL) has posted an almost twofold increase in its pre-tax profit in the fourth quarter of FY20 at Rs 267.57 crore, aided by reversal of deferred tax. It had reported a pre-tax profit of Rs 89.22 crore in the corresponding period of 2018-19.

Revenue saw a drop of 16 per cent in Q4FY20 at Rs 2,607.38 crore compared to Rs 3,097.26 crore during the January to March period of 2018-19.
 

For the entire FY20, profit before tax (PBT) fell 25 per cent to Rs 3,500.65 crore, against Rs 4677.19 crore in FY19. Revenue from operations for the year stood at Rs 12,166.54 crore versus Rs 13,780.45 crore, an increase of 12 per cent. A fall in international crude oil prices because of Covid-19 and a collapse in understanding between Opec and Russia on continued production cuts hurt the crude oil price realisation for the firm.
 

Average crude oil price realisation was lower by 11.31 per cent to $60.75 a barrel in 2019-20, compared to $68.50 a barrel during 2018-19. In Q4, it was $52.18 a barrel, a 15.51 per cent drop against $61.76 a barrel seen in Q4FY19.
 

Average natural gas price realisation during FY20 improved to $3.46 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) compared to $3.21 per mmBtu during FY19.
 

Crude oil production for the year was 3.134 million tonnes (mt) — 5.69 per cent lower than FY19’s figure of 3.323 mt. However, production in Q4 was 1.48 per cent higher at 0.758 mt, compared to 0.747 mt in Q3 of FY20.
 

Natural gas production during the year was marginally lower at 2,801 million metric standard cubic metre (MMSCM), against 2,865 MMSCM in 2018-19. The board of OIL has declared a final dividend of 16 per cent — Rs 1.60 per share — for FY20.
 

“OIL has adopted the new concessional tax regime introduced by Section 115BAA of Income Tax Act, 1961, for FY20. The effective tax rate under the new regime would be 25.17 per cent. This has resulted in reversal of deferred tax liability of Rs 821.01 crore during FY20,” the company said in a statement.