RIL Q4 net rises 11.5% to Rs8,053 cr on higher refining margins

24 Apr 2017

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has reported an 11.5-per cent increase in its fourth quarter consolidated net profit to Rs8,053 crore on the back of higher refining margins.

The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries said its gross refining margin (GRM), or profit earned on each barrel of crude processed, for the January-March 2017 quarter stood at $11.5 per barrel. GRM for the year-ago quarter stood at $10.8 a barrel.

Against this Singapore's benchmark GRM was slightly down on a quarterly basis at $6.5 per barrel. During the March quarter, Brent crude oil prices averaged $54 per barrel, up 8 per cent on a quarterly basis.

Consolidated revenue for the quarter was up 43.7 per cent at Rs94,825 crore, compared to Rs65,950 crore a year earlier.

Net profit on a standalone basis, which includes only the company's core refining, petrochemicals and oil and gas exploration businesses, rose 12.7 per cent to Rs8,151 crore ($1.26 billion) from Rs7,227 crore a year earlier, the company stated in a release

Standalone revenue for the January-March 2017 quarter stood at Rs67,467.10 crore.

Reliance Industries' refining business has been delivering double-digit GRMs since the last quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal, benefiting from the global demand for transportation fuels and improved products, as Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries Limited, pointed out during Q3 announcement.

RIL, the operator of the world's biggest oil-refinery complex with a refining capacity of 1.24 million barrels of oil per day at Jamnagar in Gujarat, is also into other businesses, including retail, telecom and finance.

RIL, which entered telecom operations with the commercial launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm in September, said for the six months ended 31 March losses for its telecom arm widened to Rs22.5 crore against Rs7.46 crore in a year ago period during its trial period. Total income dropped to Rs54 lakh against Rs2.25 crore for the six month period.

Jio recently announced that 72 million subscribers have signed up for the company's Jio prime service. This would be the start to the monetisation of the telecom business

Ahead of the earnings today RIL shares closed at 1416.95, up 1.23% on the Bombay Stock Exchange while the benchmark index closed at 29,655.84 points up, 0.99%.

Data show that the stock has posted negative returns in the past four quarters on the day after its results. Over the past eight quarters, the stock goes into the earnings (ahead of or on the day of the earnings) with flattish performance.

The price development was accompanied by humongous volumes; indicating tremendous buying interests, said experts.

The stock has been a standout performer on D-Street so far in the year 2017. It has already rallied nearly 30 per cent so far in the year and is close to reclaiming the tag of 'King of D-Street' - the company with highest market capitalisation on the BSE.