Indian Oil Corp Ltd, the country’s top refiner, on Monday reported a 19.2% rise in its third-quarter net profit, buoyed by higher gross refining margins.

The state-owned company posted a net profit of 58.61 billion rupees ($784.45 million) for the quarter ended Dec. 31 and declared a dividend of 4 rupees per share.

Revenue from operations rose nearly 35% to 1.97 trillion rupees.

IOC also said its gross refining margin — profit from converting a barrel of oil into refined products — was at $8.52 per barrel for April-December, compared with $2.96 per barrel a year ago.

The refiner, along with its unit Chennai Petroleum CHPC.NS, controls about a third of India’s five-million-barrels-per-day refining capacity.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Uttaresh.V)