It reported a net profit of Rs 4,842 crore, against Rs 5,444 crore in the same quarter in 2014-15. However, the profit was ahead of Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 4,601 crore. The company also gave subsidy to oil marketing companies (OMCs).

“The company has shared under-recoveries of OMCs for the quarter by allowing discount in the prices of crude oil based on the rates communicated by the ministry of petroleum,” ONGC said. The discounts impacted the firm’s profit after tax by Rs 329 crore during the quarter, against an impact of Rs 7,645 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total income rose to Rs 21,817 crore from Rs 21,808 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

ONGC declared an interim dividend of Rs 4.50 per share totalling Rs 3,850 crore.

The state-owned petroleum explorer also informed its board has approved the field development plan of the Madanam field in Tamil Nadu that was awarded under the fourth round of new exploration licensing policy (NELP) in 2004.

The company also notified three additional hydrocarbon discoveries during the quarter taking the total number of discoveries notified in the current fiscal to ten.

The company’s share price at the BSE on Friday closed at Rs 251.90, up 0.32 per cent as compared to previous close.