| Analysts had expected a 15 per cent rise in net profit at around Rs 4,810 crore. |
| Total income increased 10.76 per cent to Rs 16,623.88 crore in the quarter from Rs 15,008.26 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. |
| Earnings per share increased to Rs 23.83 from Rs 19.51. |
| Profit growth was largely due to higher crude oil prices during the quarter and a lower subsidy payout to oil marketing companies as compared to that a year ago, Chairman and Managing Director R S Sharma said. |
| Gross earnings from a barrel of crude oil during the quarter was $78.04, which was 9.02 per cent higher than the $71.58 per barrel it earned in the corresponding quarter last year. |
| Net realisation, after subsidy payout to oil marketing companies, was $55.93 per barrel during the period, as compared with $45.42 per barrel in the previous corresponding period. |
| ONGC shares closed 1.54 per cent lower (or Rs 19.05) on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday at Rs 1,219.55. |
| The ONGC chief said there were some areas of concern for the company such as the strengthening rupee and gas pricing. |
| "The exchange rate remaining constant, each dollar variation against the rupee impacts our revenues by about Rs 800 crore," Sharma said. |
| ONGC's revenues were adversely affected by about Rs 1,600 crore in the quarter as the value of the rupee averaged $40.53 as compared with $46.37 in the previous corresponding quarter. "This wiped out 14 per cent of our revenues," he said. |
| Sharma pointed out that the company was losing Rs 4 crore a day in gas sales at government-controlled prices. It currently sells gas at Rs 3.2 a cubic metre. |
| "If we are allowed to increase prices to Rs 3.6-3.7 a cubic metre we will break even. We are advocating a price of Rs 4.5 per cubic metre ($2.5 per million British thermal units) in order to make profits, as our expenditure on exploration is huge," he said. |
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