Reliance Industries, which operates in oil and gas, petrochemicals and now the telecom market, reported net profit of ₹7,206 crore in the September 2016 quarter, a 23 per cent fall from the same period last year.
However, after excluding the exceptional income from the sale of the EFS Midstream shale gas asset in the US in the September quarter of last year from the net profit, the current quarter’s profit shows a 43 per cent rise.
The fuel refining behemoth’s revenues for the quarter (₹81,651 crore) were supported by strong demand for oil and petrochemical products, particularly in polyester.
The company’s gross refining margin — the difference between the cost of crude oil and the price of refined products — stood at $10.1 a barrel, outperforming the benchmark Singapore complex by $5 a barrel. RIL’s flagship refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, recorded volumes of 18 million tonnes in the just-concluded quarter.
The petrochemicals business reported a 5.6 per cent rise in revenue to ₹22,422 crore in the quarter, while organised retail, which includes fuel marketing, offline and online sales of digital and fashion products, reported 63 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue to ₹8,079 crore.
RIL’s stock rose 0.15 per cent on the BSE on Thursday to close at ₹1,088.50.