Indian Oil Corporation shares hit 52-week high but pare gains later; here’s why

Its standalone net profit was ₹7,610 crore in July-September—the second quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year—compared with ₹180 crore earnings in the same period of the last year, according to company chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney.

The firm, which is in the midst of an operational efficiency programme implementation across verticals, saw crude oil processing rise 5% on the same capacity and fuel sales climb 6% in the quarter.

Another factor aiding the profit was that the company booked marginal inventory gains for the first time in a year. It had a huge inventory loss in July-September 2024, leading to a small net profit growth.

It earned $10.6 on every barrel of crude oil it processed and turned into fuels like petrol and diesel in Q2, compared to $1.59 per barrel gross refining margin in the same quarter a year back and $2.15 GRM in Q1.

He said IOC's refineries processed 17.6 million tonnes of crude oil as compared to 16.73 million tonnes in Q2 last year. The firm sold off 1.3 million tonnes of petroleum products more in the quarter, helping clock a 6% rise in sales volume growth to 24.26 million tonnes.

“We had the highest ever first-half sales volumes of 50.6 million tonnes in April-September (48.21 million tonnes in the same period last year,” he said.

Consolidated numbers

On a consolidated basis, IOC reported a net profit of ₹7,817.55 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal year (Q2 FY26) as compared to a net loss of ₹169.58 crore posted in the year-ago period.

Sequentially, IOC's net profit rose 14.7% from ₹6,813.71 crore in the June quarter.

The company’s revenue from operations jumped 3.9% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹2,06,447.11 crore during Q2 FY26 against ₹1,98,615.80 crore in the same quarter last year.

Its total income increased to ₹2,07,091.44 crore in Q2 FY26 from ₹1,99,339.05 crore a year ago, marking a jump of 3.8%. Additionally, its total expenses fell 2.5% YoY to ₹1,96,699.02 crore during the September quarter from ₹2,01,760.21 crore in Q2 FY25.

First half and sales volumes

The first half of the fiscal year is considered slow for petroleum product sales, as the monsoon impedes demand and leads to lower volume growth. “Going by the robust sales volumes, we are confident of crossing the 100 million tonne record achieved in the last fiscal year,” Sahney further said.

The company's domestic petroleum sales volumes rose by 4% in H1, compared to 3.9% in the industry. It clocked a near 36% rise in institutional sales of diesel as compared to industry growth of 13%. Petrochemical sales rose 5% to 1.54 million tonnes in H1.

IOC posted the highest-ever quarterly gas sales volume of 1.84 million tonnes in Q2.

Sahney said fuel exports were up 37% to 1.41 million tonnes in Q2 as the company tapped overseas markets to place products not absorbed in the domestic market.

Sales volumes rose to ₹2.04 lakh crore in Q2 from ₹1.96 lakh crore a year back, he added.

View on Russian oil sanctions

Chairman Sahney also said that Indian Oil Corporation will comply with all applicable sanctions, steering clear of remarks on purchases from Russia.

Indian refiners are likely to scale back on the import of Russian oil to avoid secondary sanctions on shipping and banking after the US imposed fresh sanctions with a view to curbing Moscow's earnings from oil sales.

“We will abide by all sanctions imposed by the international community,” he said.

He, however, refused to comment on the IOC's purchases of Russian oil.

Russian oil made up for 21% of the crude oil IOC imports during April-September.

IOC's subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) has halved Russian oil imports this month, coinciding with the fresh sanctions the US imposed on Russian oil.

IOC share price

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation opened at ₹156.40 apiece on NSE and touched their one-year high. However, it lost momentum later and slipped to an intraday low of ₹154.70 apiece.

At 10:24 AM, IOC shares were trading at ₹154.99 apiece, falling 0.14%.

In the last month, the stock has gained 7%, while for a three-month period, it has advanced 5%. In six months’ time, IOC shares have climbed nearly 14%.

The company’s market capitalisation stands at ₹2.19 lakh crore.