New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS): Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday reported a 90.9 per cent plunge in net profit for the third quarter ending December at Rs 716.82 crore caused by inventory losses on account of falling oil prices.

In a stock exchange filing, the oil marketer said it had posted a profit of Rs 7,883.22 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.

The company's net sales in the quarter under consideration at Rs 1.60 lakh crore, however, came in higher than the revenue from operations at Rs 1.31 lakh crore registered in the same quarter of 2017-18.

Domestic fuel sales during the October-December quarter grew 3 per cent over the previous year to 21.5 million tonnes (MT).

IOC's refinery output during the quarter in question at 19 MT rose marginally over the 18.23 MT refined in the same period of the last fiscal.

Earning before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the third quarter fell sharply to Rs 3,610 crore, from Rs 13,287 crore on this count in the same quarter of 2017-18.

The company's gross refining margin (GRM), or profit earned on converting a barrel of crude to petroleum products, for the first nine months of the fiscal (April-December) at $5.83 per barrel witnessed a major fall from the GRM of $8.28 per barrel in the same period of the last fiscal.

Total expenses during the quarter in review rose to Rs 1.59 lakh crore, from Rs 1.20 lakh crore in 2017-18.

The Indian Oil stock closed on Wednesday at Rs 134.65 a share, down Rs 2.85, or by 2.07 per cent on its previous close on the BSE.