Essar Oil posts record 2,162 crore net profit in FY 2015-16

Essar Oil today said it earned a record net profit of Rs 2,162 crore in the 2015-16 fiscal on back of robust refining margins.

At the company's annual general meeting at Vadinar in Gujarat, Essar Oil informed shareholders that it earned a highest-ever $10.81 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during the fiscal as compared to a current price gross refining margin of $8.37 a barrel in the previous year.

Essar Oil got delisted from stock exchanges last year and is therefore, not obliged by regulations to report quarterly numbers and this is the first time it is giving financial earnings for 2015-16.

"In FY2015-16, the company achieved its highest ever EBIDTA of Rs 7,773 crore, which was 35 oer cebt higher than the previous year. The Profit after Tax was also at a new high of Rs 2,162 crore -- a rise of 42% from FY2014-15," a company statement said here.

The total throughput of the refinery stood at 19.1 million tonnes in 2015-16, compared to 20.49 million tonnes in the previous year.

The lower throughput during the year was on account of the planned shutdown of 28 days, undertaken during the September-October period, it said.

Essar Oil said it has commissioned its 3,000th petrol pump in the country. "Over 2,800 retail outlets are at various stages of implementation as the company plans to benefit from the rising demand for transportation fuel. The retail sales volume grew by almost 145% to 1.6 million kilolitre in 2015-16," the statement said.

In the exploration and production segment, the company's flagship CBM project at Raniganj East in West Bengal produced 800,000 standard cubic meters as of March 31, 2016.

Essar Oil has since become the first player to cross the 1 million standard cubic meters production milestone in the country in July 2016, the statement said.

Prashant Ruia, Chairman of Essar Oil, said: "I believe that the benchmark financial and operational highlights of the company's performance in FY2015-16 are an outcome of enduring effort and demonstrate our unparallelled ability to excel in volatile circumstances."

The Ruia family has sold 98% stake in the company to Russia's Rosneft and its partners for nearly $13 billion "in line with Essar's philosophy to incubate, nurture, and scale up businesses to landmark valuations."

"The sale transaction includes the Vadinar refinery and the retail network. The transaction is the single largest tranche of foreign direct investment in India. It has already received the approval of the Competition Commission of India and the process of securing other approvals is progressing satisfactorily," the statement added.