(Reuters) – Engine oil maker Castrol India posted a 12% rise in quarterly profit on Monday, helped by steady demand for its products.
The company, 51% owned by British oil major BP, said profit after tax rose to 2.71 billion rupees ($31 million) in the fourth quarter, from 2.42 billion rupees a year ago.
Quarterly revenue grew 7.1% to 13.54 billion rupees in the October to December quarter due to higher sales of its lubricants for two-wheelers and commercial vehicles.
India’s two-wheeler sales grew about 3% in the quarter, while those of commercial vehicles rose 1.2%, according to industry data.
Castrol India is looking to grab a larger share in the country’s competitive lubricants market that includes state-owned oil refiners like Bharat Petroleum and foreign players such as Shell.
The company, in its latest annual report, said it wanted to capitalise on surging sport utility vehicle sales and would launch a slew of premium as well as affordable products, to improve its presence in the country.
“In 2025…making Castrol more accessible and affordable has been a key strategy, and we intend to scale it further to get more consumers into our network,” Managing Director Kedar Lele said in a press release.
The company’s shares closed marginally lower on Monday.
($1 = 87.0580 Indian rupees)
(This story has been corrected to say the company would launch premium and affordable ‘products,’ not ‘markets,’ in paragraph 6)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
