ONGC’s Q1 net rises 11.9%, beats forecast

India's top oil producer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, said on Wednesday quarterly net profit rose 11.9 per cent, beating forecast, as lower discounts to state-run refiners offset the impact of a stronger rupee. State-run ONGC said net profit rose to 46.1 billion rupees (USD 1.1 billion) in the fiscal first quarter to end-June, from 41.2 billion rupees reported in the same period a year ago. A Reuter’s poll had forecast a net profit of 38.7 billion rupees.

The company has been weighed down by discounts it is forced to give state-run refiners to keep local fuel prices low.

Since ONGC bills its customers in US dollars, a stronger rupee that has gained about 10 per cent so far this year also squeezed earnings.

Shares in ONGC, India's second-most valuable listed company at USD 48 billion, rose 2.7 per cent during the June quarter, lagging the benchmark BSE index's 12.1 per cent gain and its sector index, which rose 19 per cent.

Inflation at 5.74 pc on March 31

NEW DELHI: India's wholesale price index rose 5.74 per cent in the 12 months to March 31, lower than the previous week's increase of 6.39 per cent, data showed on Friday. The figure was below a forecast of an annual 5.81 per cent in a Reuters poll of analysts but above the central bank's projection of 5.0-5.5 per cent for the end of the financial year. March 31 was the last day of the 2006/07 financial year.

The annual inflation rate was 3.98 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.

The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index, which is published monthly, because it covers a higher number of products and is published weekly.