Essar Oil Q4 net vaults over 78 per cent to Rs321 crore

Essar Oil has posted net profit of Rs321 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2011 compared to Rs180 crore during the quarter ended 31 March 2010, an year-on-year increase of 78.3 per cent.

Total income of the company during the quarter ended 31 March 2011 rose 26.9 per cent to Rs13,383 crore from Rs10,545 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2010, unaudited results for the year ended 31 March 2011 showed.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2011, the company posted a net profit of Rs654 crore against Rs290 crore during the year ended 31 March 2010. Total income for the year increased to Rs47,249 crore from Rs36,716 crore during the previous year quarter.

"This is a strong financial result driven by record refinery throughput of 14.76 million tonnes per annum and a healthy uplift of over 80 per cent in gross refinery margins (GRMs)," the Essar Oil CEO and managing director Naresh Nayyar said at a conference call.

During the January-March 2011 quarter, Essar Oil saw its gross refining margin per barrel of crude rise to $8.15 from $5.37 per barrel in the same period a year ago.

Gross refining margin based on current prices recorded an increase of 87 per cent to $6.91 per barrel in FY 2010-11 from $3.70 a barrel in FY 2009-10.