Shashi and Ravi Ruia’s flagship energy company Essar Oil reported a 600 per cent rise in quarterly profit year-on-year to ₹364 crore on its last trading day as a public stock. It also reported its highest ever gross refining margin (the difference between the cost of crude oil and the price of refined products) of $13.25 a barrel in Q3FY16.

Essar Oil, the country’s second largest private sector refiner, completed its reverse buyback to privatise the firm last quarter. The shares will be formally delisted from stock exchanges on February 17.

Operating income rose 36 per cent to ₹1,759 crore in the December quarter, against ₹1,291 crore in Q3FY15, backed by lower costs of crude oil. Refinery throughput fell to 4.24 million tonnes (5.19 mt), due to a 15-day planned shutdown at its Vadinar refinery.

During the quarter, Essar commissioned 220 new retail outlets, bringing the nationwide total to 1,910. Another 2,186 are at different stages of implementation, the company’s CEO Lalit K Gupta told journalists over a conference call. Retail sales accounted for 16 per cent of the company’s revenues, up from 6 per cent last year. At the coal-bed methane field in Raniganj, West Bengal, the company produced 6,55,000 standard cubic metres of gas per day.

On the status of its 49 per cent stake sale to Russian partner Rosneft, Gupta said the deal is at “advanced stages of due diligence”.

He declined to comment on market rumours about another possible share sale agreement with Saudi Arabia’s national petroleum and natural gas company Aramco. However, he added that for now, Essar has “exclusivity of deal with Rosneft”.

Shares of Essar Oil closed down 0.15 per cent at ₹262.60 on the BSE on Tuesday. The final exit price for public shareholders is marginally higher, at ₹262.80.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW