New Delhi, May 22: State-run oil marketer Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Tuesday posted a 40.25 per cent rise in profit at Rs 5,218.10 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, mainly on the back of inventory gains, as per a company announcement.

The country's largest oil marketing firm had recorded a net profit of Rs 3,720.62 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.  IOC's revenue from operations during the quarter in consideration at Rs 1.37 lakh crore rose 12.29 per cent, as compared to the Rs 1.22 lakh crore in revenue during the same quarter of the last fiscal.

Net profit for the entire fiscal 2017-18 at Rs 21,346 crore was an impressive 11.72 per cent improvement over the profit after tax of Rs 19,106 crore in the previous financial year.

The company's average gross refining margin (GRM), on converting each barrel of crude to petroleum products, for April-March 2018 stood at $8.49 per barrel, as against the GRM of $7.77 during the same period a year ago.

IOC profits were boosted by an "inventory gain of Rs 3,442 crore, compared to Rs 2,634 crore in the same quarter previous year", Director (Finance) A.K. Sharma said at a press conference here.

Revenue from petroleum products during the quarter in question Rs 1.31 lakh crore rose 3.96 per cent over the previous quarter, while revenue from petrochemicals increased 8.37 per cent to Rs 5,099.01 crore.

Revenue from other business activities rose sequentially by 22.58 per cent to Rs 2,373.24 lakh crore.

The Indian Oil Board recommended a final dividend of Rs 2 per share for the financial year 2017-18. The IOC stock closed on Tuesday at Rs 161.55 a share, down Rs 3.75, or by 2.27 per cent, on its previous close on the BSE.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2018 08:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).