MUMBAI, Jan 28: India’s biggest oil producer Oil and Natural Gas Corp said on Wednesday its third-quarter net profit slid by 43.3 per cent, dragged down by lower crude oil prices.

The company said net profit for the three months to December tumbled to 24.74bn rupees ($506 million) from 43.66 billion rupees a year earlier.

The earnings were below analysts’ forecasts of around 38 billion rupees.

ONGC shares rose 21.25 rupees or 3.42 per cent to 642.25 ahead of the earnings announcement, in an overall firm market.

Sales for the company in the three months to December fell 17.5 per cent to 127.2 billion rupees.—AFP