Oil and gas major Reliance Industries posted a marginally better than expected net profit in the third quarter ended December 2013 at Rs 5,511 crore against Rs 5,502 crore in the year-ago period.
According to analysts, this improved performance came on the back of better revenues from its refinery business and exploration and production segment.
Quarterly revenues in the refining segment rose 10 per cent to Rs 95,432 crore on a year-on-year basis due to higher crude prices but operating profit was down 13 per cent at Rs 3,141 crore as gross refining margins (GRMs) declined to $7.6 a barrel in the third quarter from $9.6 a barrel in the corresponding previous period.
The GRM is the difference between the cost of a barrel of crude oil and the price at which its processed output can be sold.
In a statement, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani said: “Reliance’s robust refining configuration enabled it to deliver stable refining profits in third quarter, against the backdrop of declining regional benchmark margins.
“We are happy to announce the commissioning of our new polyester facility at Silvassa. Our retail business continues on its rapid growth trajectory with 38 per cent revenue growth during the quarter.”
The company also marked a milestone in its retail operations by posting profit at the after-tax level for the quarter ended December 2013.
With the company going in for aggressive expansion by opening virtually one retail store every day in this past quarter, the revenues too shot up by 38 per cent to Rs 3,927 crore.
Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Strategist & Head of Research at SMC Global Securities, said: “The results were in line with a positive bias and better than expected. The main trigger was the uptick from the oil and gas business combined with high other income.”
The company’s other income stood at Rs 6,900 crore against Rs 5,755 crore in the year-ago period mainly owing to higher liquid investments.
RIL had total cash of Rs 88,705 crore on its balance sheet in this quarter.
Gas pricing On the impact of the recent Government notification of the gas pricing guidelines applicable from this April on the KG-D6 gas, Chief Financial Officer Alok Agarwal said: “This is a first step but till we receive approvals from the Government on several of our development projects in KG-D6 we will not be revising our investment plans.”
The company’s scrip closed at Rs 884.55, down 0.60 points or 0.07 per cent on the BSE on Friday before the announcement of the results.