IOC said its average gross refining margin improved to $8.28 per barrel in the April-December period

Indian Oil Corp Ltd said its third-quarter profit nearly doubled, handily beating estimates. Net profit surged 97 per cent to Rs 7,883 crore ($1.24 billion) in the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 3,995 crore a year earlier.Analysts on average expected a profit of Rs 5,149 crore, Thomson Reuters Eikon data showed.Average gross refining margin improved to $8.28 per barrel in the April-December period from $7.36 per barrel in the year-ago period, the country's top refiner said on Tuesday.

© Thomson Reuters 2018

Shares of the company rose 3.8 per cent to Rs 414.85 in a broader Mumbai market that was trading down 0.69 per cent.($1 = Rs 63.73)