Indian Oil : Swung to Fourth-Quarter Net Loss on $1.5 Billion Inventory Write-Down

By Kosaku Narioka

Indian Oil Corp. said it swung to a net loss in its fourth quarter as it was forced to write down the value of inventories by $1.5 billion due to sharp falls in oil prices amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Indian energy company said Wednesday that it booked a net loss of 77.83 billion rupees ($1.03 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a net profit of INR60.05 billion a year earlier.

Indian Oil said significant drops in oil prices led to the write-down of inventories totaling INR113.05 billion, which was treated as an exceptional loss.

Indian Oil said, nonetheless, that it had a positive view on its long-term business outlook and financial position and expected to comfortably pay down any debt and obligations.

On a stand-alone basis, net loss was INR51.85 billion, wider than the estimated net loss of INR34.04 billion from a FactSet poll of analysts.

Its group fourth-quarter revenue decreased 3.2% to INR1.424 trillion from INR1.471 trillion a year earlier.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [e-mail]