Government-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) hit a five-month high of Rs 191 on Monday as the company beat analysts' estimates and posted a 3.1 percent increase in its net profit during the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal.
Shares of the country's biggest oil and gas producer were up as much as 4 percent on BSE in early morning trade. The company also registered a spurt in volume by more than 2.45 times. The stock was trading at its highest level since May 11, 2017.
The company's net profit for the September-ended quarter rose to Rs 5,131 crore from Rs 4,975 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The net profit increased primarily due to realisation from higher oil prices.
The oil-producing company's revenue during the quarter on review was up about 3 percent to Rs 18,966 crore as against Rs 18,395 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, the company said in an exchange filing.
ONGC said oil production during the quarter increased almost 1 percent to 6.45 million tonnes, while natural gas output was up 7.7 percent at 6.25 billion cubic metres.
"The company notified nine discoveries so far in FY'18 out of which four discoveries have been made since last press release on July 27, 2017 (one new prospect and three new pool discoveries). Out of the four discoveries, two discoveries each have been made in offshore blocks and onshore blocks," ONGC said in a press release.
Antique Stock Broking maintained a BUY rating on the stock as a marginal EBITDA miss aside, analysts feel earnings are largely in line, even as the crude price environment gradually improves to $60/bbl (Brent) vs an average of $53/bbl YTD, trading at just 8.3x FY19e, reported Business Standard.
ONGC shares have substantially underperformed so far this year compared to the S&P BSE Oil and Gas index.
ONGC stocks declined 0.8 percent, whereas the BSE Oil and Gas index jumped 21 percent in calendar year 2017.
The underperformance is mainly due to low oil prices and uncertainty around the acquisition price of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL).
