New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Thursday reported a 31 per cent drop in its March quarter net profit as it faced a double whammy of a drop in production and fall in prices.
Net profit in January-March at Rs 4,045 crore was 31.6 per cent lower than net profit of Rs 5,915 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year, the company said in a statement.
While oil production dropped 5 per cent to 4.8 million tonne, the price it realised for every barrel of crude oil sold was 3.6 per cent lower at $61.93.
Gas production, however, rose 8.2 per cent to 6.275 billion cubic metres. Also, gas price climbed 16.3 per cent to $3.36 per million British thermal unit. Revenue was up 11.6 per cent to Rs 26,759 crore in the fourth quarter of 2018-19 as compared to Rs 23,970 crore a year back.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp board approved a final dividend of 15 per cent (Rs 0.75 per share). This is on top of interim dividends of 125 per cent (Rs 6.25 a share) declared previously for 2018-19 fiscal.
"The total dividend payout for FY'19 would be Rs 8,806 crore (excluding dividend distribution tax)," the statement said. For the full fiscal 2018-19, net profit jumped 34 per cent to Rs 26,716 crore while revenue was up 29 per cent at Rs 109,655 crore.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp said it made 13 discoveries in FY19. "Of the 13 discoveries, 8 discoveries were made in onland (Nomination-6, NELP-2) and 5 in offshore (Nomination-2, NELP- 3). Out of 13 discoveries, 5 discoveries were monetised during the year itself," it said.
The statutory levies rose to Rs 7,188 crore in the quarter from Rs 5,764 crore in the year-ago quarter while expenditure under depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment has increased to Rs 4,883 crore from Rs 3,245 crore a year earlier.
ONGC has deposited a total of Rs 4,180 crore as service tax, GST and the applicable interest in response to the tax demand by authorities while it is contesting the order legally. The Company has received demand orders from Service Tax Department at various work centres on account of service tax on royalty, and has filed appeals against such orders before Tribunal, the company said.
At March-end, ONGC's borrowings fell to Rs 21,594 crore from Rs 25,592 crore a year earlier. The ONGC Board has also recommended a final dividend of Rs 0.75 per
share.