ONGC shares decline 4% after ₹247 cr loss in March quarter

Shares of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) dipped as much as 4.3% on Monday, to hit an intraday low of ₹156.50 apiece on the BSE, after the company reported a standalone net loss of ₹247.70 crore in the March quarter in FY23, as against the profit of ₹8,859.54 crore in the same period last year. The company has attributed the disputed service tax and GST on royalty as the reason behind its loss in the March quarter. According to the company, ONGC, during the quarter and year ended March 31, 2023, has provided ₹12,107 crore towards disputed taxes of ST/GST on royalty for the period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2023 together with interest thereon.

"The above adjustments have adversely impacted the profitability for Q4 and FY23. However, the company shall continue to contest such disputed matters before various forums based on the legal opinion," the country's largest oil and gas producer said.

On Monday, the scrip opened lower at ₹159.55 as against the closing price of the previous session at ₹163.60. At 11:10, the share price of ONGC was trading 2.78% lower at ₹159 on the BSE. During the session, the company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹2,00,089.34 crore with 32,00,728 shares exchanging hands on the BSE, higher than the two-week average of 5.91 lakh shares. At the current share price, shares of ONGC is trading 5.8% lower than the 52-week high of ₹168.95, which the country’s largest oil and gas producer, touched on May 12. ONGC stocks are trading 32.7% higher than the 52-week low of ₹119.80, that the company touched on July 6 last year.

From January to March, the company's standalone revenue from operations/sales grew marginally by 5.2% at ₹36,292 crore as against ₹34,497.24 crore in the same period last year. Segment-wise, the company’s offshore revenue stood at ₹25,013.33 crore, whereas onshore revenue stood at ₹11,279 crore. In the March quarter, the company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) dropped by 20.66% at ₹13,799.53 crore from ₹17,393.21 crore in the same period last year.

Sequentially, the company's revenue declined 5.9% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) as against ₹38,583.29 crore in the December quarter of FY23. In FY23, the company’s standalone profit stood at ₹38,828.87 crore, down 3.6% YoY, as against ₹40,305.74 crore in FY22. The company's net sales in FY23 stood at ₹1.55 lakh crore, up 40.9% YoY as against ₹1.10 lakh crore in FY22.

According to the company, the total dividend for FY23 would be 225% (₹11.25 per share of face value ₹5 each) with a total payout of ₹14,153 crore. This includes an interim dividend of 215% (₹10.75 per share) already paid during the year and the final dividend of 10% (₹0.50 per share) recommended by the board.