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RIL Q1 Net Rises 17% On Higher Refining Margins

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Reliance Industries, India's largest listed firm, posted a 16.7 per cent rise to its highest ever quarterly net profit, but just missed analysts' estimates as slowing gas production weighed on results. Reliance, with interests in refining, petrochemicals, oil and gas exploration and retail, said strong refining margins drove the growth but was offset by lower oil and gas production, which analysts have said may cloud its growth outlook in coming quarters. "The street may be disappointed with the lower-than-expected core profit numbers. Profitability from now on will largely be a function of the petrochemicals and refining margins," said Deepak Pareek, oil and gas sector analyst at brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher. In May, India's upstream regulator said Reliance was producing 48 mscmd (million standard cubic metres per day of gas) from its main D6 block in the KG basin off India's east coast, lower than the 60 mscmd it produced last year, and far off the planned peak capacity of 80 mscmd. Reliance has been under fire over the past few months from the upstream regulator, investors and analysts over the slowing gas output, and its shares have been under pressure. On Friday, India's cabinet approved Reliance's plan to sell a 30 percent stake in 21 oil and gas blocks, instead of the 23 originally planned, to BP as part of a $7.2 billion deal. Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the world's ninth-richest man, is looking to expand beyond its core businesses into telecom and financial services, and last month said it planned to invest aggressively in retail. The company said April-June net profit rose to 56.61 billion rupees ($1.28 billion) from 48.51 billion rupees a year ago. This included other income of 10.78 billion rupees in the latest fiscal first quarter. A Reuters poll of brokerages had forecast quarterly net profit of 57.2 billion rupees. Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex in western India, saw gross refining margins in its fiscal first quarter rise to $10.3 per barrel from $7.3 a year ago, and $9.2 in the previous quarter. Shares in Reliance, valued by the market at $64.4 billion, have declined nearly 17 percent so far in 2011, contributing significantly to the comparative 8 percent fall in the main index, in which the stock has the heaviest weight. (Reuters)