Indian Oil Corp Ltd, the country's top refiner, reported an eleven-fold rise in second-quarter profit on Friday that beat analysts' estimates on inventory gains and lower expenses.
The company, along with subsidiary Chennai Petroleum , controls about a third of the country's 5 million-barrels-per-day (bpd) refining capacity.
Net profit for the state-owned company rose to ₹62.27 billion ($842.14 million) in the three months ended Sept.30, from ₹5.63 billion a year earlier.
Also read |IOC Q1 profit almost halves, revenue slides
Analysts on average had expected a profit of ₹28.20 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Shares of the company were up 2.1% as of 0554 GMT.
Total expenses fell 16.6%, while the change in inventories for finished goods, stock in trade and work in progress were at a gain of ₹16.37 billion against a loss of ₹60.66 billion a year ago.
For the April-September period, average gross refining margin, which is the difference between the cost of crude oil processed and the prices of refined products, rose to $3.46 per barrel from $2.96 per barrel($1 = ₹73.9430).
