ONGC profit rises 20% on lower subsidy

BS 200 SCORECARD

A lower subsidy payout pushed up net profit of the country's largest exploration and production company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), by 20.04 per cent to Rs 4,668.31 crore during the quarter ended December 2006, from Rs 3,888.76 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

"Lower crude oil prices have reduced our share in the subsidy we pay to the downstream oil marketing companies," explained an spokesperson of the company.

The company paid Rs 2,204 crore as subsidy to state-owned downstream firms during the quarter, while it paid Rs 2,843 crore in the same quarter of the last financial year.

The company's realisation from the sale of a barrel of crude oil increased to $51 during the quarter from $43 in the year-ago quarter.

Turnover during the period rose 25 per cent to Rs 15,631 crore compared with Rs 12,548 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net sales stood at Rs 15,564.52 crore (Rs 12,476.07 crore). Earnings per share during the quarter stood at Rs 21.83 (Rs 27.26).

For the nine-month period ended December 2006, net profit rose 14 per cent to Rs 12,961 crore (Rs 11,345 crore). Turnover rose 23 per cent to Rs 44,454 crore in the nine-month period (Rs 36,230 crore).

Crude oil production during the period stood at 21.61 million tonne, up 10.82 per cent from 19.50 million tonne in the same period last year.

Natural gas production, however, dipped 1.39 per cent to 18.36 billion cubic metre from 18.62 billion cubic metre. During the nine-month period, the company paid a subsidy of Rs 12,356 crore to downstream companies as against Rs 8,550 crore in the same period last year.

Earnings per share increased to Rs 60.60 during the period against Rs 53.04 in the same period last year. During the quarter, it paid Rs 2,204 crore subsidy to downstream oil companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum as part of the government's subsidy-sharing scheme.

Crude oil production rose 11.77 per cent to 7.12 million tonne from 6.37 million tonne in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Natural gas production rose around 1 per cent to 6.36 billion cubic metre from 6.30 billion cubic metre in the year-ago quarter.