Indian Oil shares are soaring. Know why

Indian Oil Corp, the nation's top company by sales, surged on the back of a smart rise in quarterly profit as the cost of its main raw material crude oil dropped over the past one year.

Indian Oil said its first quarter net profit soared 155 percent to 6,436 crore rupees compared with 2,523 crore rupees in the same quarter a year ago. Sales during April-June slipped 19 percent to 101,307 crores versus 124,957 crores, the company said in a release to the exchanges. Prices of petrol and diesel have fallen sharply over the last one year as crude oil prices halved over the same period.

Indian Oil said its gross refining margins jumped to 10.77 dollars per barrel compared with 2.25 dollars in the year ago quarter.

Indian Oil rose 11.50 rupees, or 3 percent, to 400 rupees on the National Stock Exchange. The stock's market capitalisation has gained 16 percent in one year to 94,580 crore rupees. Indian Oil trades at 1.37 times its book value of 283.50 rupees.

Image credit: Indiatimes