RIL Q2 net vaults 13% to Rs8,097 cr as refining margins peak
14 Oct 2017
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India's biggest company in terms of market capitalisation, has reported a 12.97 per cent year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit for fiscal second quarter ended 30 September 2017-18, at Rs8,097 crore, despite a Rs271-crore loss at its telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm.
RIL continued to gain on higher refining margins, which helped the company churn out another billion dollar profit in the July-September quarter. RIL had posted a net profit of Rs7,179 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
Gross refining margins (GRM) for the quarter stood at a nine-year high of $12 per barrel (bbl) against $10.1 per barrel last year. RIL's GRM outperformed Singapore complex margins by $3.7/bbl.
However, the quarter saw losses at its telecom arm Reliance Jio swell and outstanding debt rise further. Reliance Jio posted a loss of Rs271 crore for the quarter.
Consolidated total income of the company climbed 15.89 per cent Rs97,402 crore in Q2 compared to Rs84,044 crore in the similar quarter of the previous fiscal.
EBIT margins of Reliance Industries during the quarter expanded to 17.7 per cent, which was highest in 10 years.
''Our company reported another quarter of robust performance. I am delighted to share that this includes the financial performance of Reliance Jio which had a positive EBIT contribution in its first quarter of commercial operations,'' Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries, said.
On a standalone basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs8,265 crore for the July-September 2017-18 quarter, up 7.28 per cent compared to Rs7,704 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ended 30 September 2017 stood at Rs13.7 against Rs12.2 in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Outstanding debt as on 30 September 2017 was Rs2,14,145 crore compared with Rs196,601 crore as on 31 March 2017.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs77,014 crore as of 30 September 2017 against Rs77,226 crore in the same quarter last year.
For the second quarter ended 30 September 2017, revenue from the petrochemicals segment increased 24.9 per cent to Rs27,999 crore on higher volumes in the polyester chain and firm prices.
Petrochemicals segment EBIT was at a record level of Rs4,960 crore on the back of strong volume growth, higher margins and improved product mix with ethane cracking stabilising at Dahej and Hazira.
Shares of Reliance Industries settled 0.48 per cent, up at Rs876.70, ahead of the earnings announcement on Friday.
