Gross revenue for the company increased by 27.42% to Rs 13,356 crore. Refining margins in the quarter were $8.15 a barrel compared with $5.37 a year earlier. Expansion of capacity at the Vadinar refinery to 20 million metric tons a year is scheduled to be completed by September 2012, Essar Oil said.

The stock has dropped 10 percent in the past year compared with a 7.5 percent increase in the benchmark Sensitive Index.

Essar's operating profit margin (OPM) for the quarter was 6.83%, an improvement of 9 basis points (1 basis points is 1/100th of a per cent). In Decemeber quarter the company had reported an increase by 103 basis points.

"This is a strong financial result driven by record refinery throughput of 14.76 million tonnes per annum and a healthy uplift of over 80 per cent in gross refinery margins (GRMs)," Essar Oil CEO and Managing Director Naresh Nayyar told a conference call.

He further added, "Demand for petroleum products in India is expected to continue to grow sharply and we remain focused on delivering our key projects, which in 2011 includes the first phase of our Vadinar refinery expansion."

Nayyar also stated that the Vadinar refinery continues to operate above its capacity of 10.5 million tonnes per annum, processing a record 14.76 million tons of crude oil in 2010-11.

OneIndia Money