New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Thursday reported an over 12 percent rise in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March on the back of an exceptional gain, on a day when global crude oil prices touched $50 mark for the first time this year.
ONGC's net profit on a standalone basis was Rs.4,416 crore for the January-March quarter, compared to the Rs.3,935 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a release here.
However, total income from operations fell 24 percent to Rs.16,384.77 crore from Rs.21,647.49 crore in the same quarter last year.
The company said its other income quadrupled to Rs.3,392 crore, adding it partly reversed a previously taken charge resulting in an exceptional gain of Rs.852.2 crore in the quarter in question, against exceptional loss of Rs.3,994 crore in the previous quarter.
The ONGC board also recommended a final dividend of Rs.3.25 per equity share of Rs.5 each for fiscal 2015-16.
"The board recommended a final dividend of 65 percent. The company had earlier declared interim dividend of 105 percent for the year. Thus the total dividend for FY'16 has been 170 percent," the statement said.
"ONGC crude oil production recorded a rise for the second consecutive year. Offshore oil production has gone up by 2.1 percent rising from 16.19 million tonnes (FY'15) to 16.54 MT (FY'16)," it added.
Profit for full fiscal 2015-16 fell 9.8 percent to Rs.16,003.7 crore compared to previous year due to exceptional loss of Rs.3,142.2 crore, ONGC said.
The fiscal's profit was also impacted by discount of Rs.607 crore given to oil marketing companies during the fourth quarter as compared to Rs.20,437 crore discounted in the same period of last year.
Revenue for the year also declined 5.4 percent to Rs.78,387.5 crore.
ONGC stock closed on Thursday at Rs.216.70 a share, up 6.50 points, or 3.09 percent over its previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
