Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. reported a higher-than-expected rise in profit during the July-September quarter as higher global crude prices and a weaker Indian rupee benefited the state-run explorer.
- Net profit rose 34.5 percent sequentially to Rs 8,265 crore, according to its stock exchange filing. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg had pegged profit at Rs 7,157 crore.
- Revenue rose 2.85 percent over the previous quarter to Rs 27,989 crore. That was lower than the Bloomberg's consensus estimate of Rs 28,932 crore.
- Operating profit, after adjusting for exploration cost write-off, went up 7.2 percent to Rs 15,789 crore.
- Operating margin widened to 56.4 percent from 54.1 percent earlier.
The profit growth was largely aided by a near quadrupling of other income to Rs 2,394 crore. However, it was higher oil prices which led to better profitability. Brent crude oil, the Asian benchmark, averaged around $75.9 per barrel compared with $74.9 per barrel in the previous quarter. ONGC also realised better rates for crude due to the lack of any subsidy burden this quarter.
The stock closed almost 2 percent higher on Friday. It rose 11.87 percent during the July-September period, tracking the S&P BSE Oil and Gas index that rose 16.65 percent.
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