Essar Oil has reported a net profit of Rs.32 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012, as compared to a net loss of Rs.362 crore in the same period in the previous year.
Gross revenues stood at Rs.25,909 crore, up 86 per cent over Rs.13,897 crore. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was up 8.4 times at Rs.1,242 crore against Rs.148 crore in the corresponding period of the last financial year.
For the October to December quarter, the company reported current price gross refining margin of $9.75 a barrel, up 350 per cent as compared to $2.82 a barrel in the same period in the previous year, reflecting the higher complexity benefits post-completion of expansion and optimisation projects, the company said.
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During the quarter, Vadinar Refinery processed 5.14 million metric tonnes of crude, up 83 per cent. The refinery is now functioning at over its nameplate capacity of 20 million metric tonnes per annum with all units stabilised.
“Our Vadinar Refinery has demonstrated excellent operating performance during the quarter. With the differential of heavy and ultra heavy crude price widening over the lighter variety, complex refineries such as ours, which on the one hand are able to process lower price ultra heavy and heavy crude and yet produce high value products, are realising the gains of higher complexity,” said LK Gupta, Essar Oil’s Managing Director and CEO.
“Going forward, we will continue to optimise our crude diet and product slate further to improve our earnings, creating greater stakeholder value,” he added.
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“Our EBIDTA and PAT (profit after tax) would have been higher by Rs.260 crore in this quarter if not for the foreign exchange gain accounted for in the previous quarter which showed up as lower sales realisation during the quarter,” Suresh Jain, CFO, Essar Oil, said.