State-run Oil India misses Q1 profit estimates as expenses spike

BENGALURU (Reuters) - State-run explorer Oil India reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, hurt by higher expenses.

Its profit fell 9% year-on-year to 14.67 billion rupees (about $175 million) in the three months ended June 30, falling behind analysts' predicted profit of 16.87 billion rupees, per LSEG data.

Oil India, which operates exploration and production assets mostly in the northeastern part of the country, said its total expenses rose nearly 40% to 40.26 billion rupees as its excise duty costs surged over four-fold, which offset the impact of a 26% rise in quarterly revenue to 58.40 billion rupees.

India hiked windfall tax - a higher tax levied on specific industries when they gain a sudden boost to profits - on petroleum crude thrice in the quarter.

The tax imposition started in July 2022 by the Indian government and was aimed at boosting local supply of fuels to meet rising demand and to target refiners who were boosting product exports to gain from higher overseas margins.

Fuel demand in the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, India, remained strong during April-June, data from oil ministry showed.

Peer Oil and Natural Gas reported a first-quarter profit beat earlier this week.

($1 = 83.9400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Jenane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)