6 highlights of RIL's March quarter numbers

Mukesh Ambani – owned Reliance Industries beat Street estimates for the seventh quarter in a row, reporting 11.54% jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 8,053 crore for the March quarter of financial year 2016-17 against Rs 7,220 crore reported in the same quarter of FY15-16. 

The Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of Rs 11 per fully paid up equity share of Rs 10 each for the FY17, aggregating Rs 3,916 crore, including dividend distribution tax.

This is the ninth straight quarter when the company has reported growth in net profit. Earlier in the day, the market capitalisation (m-cap) of RIL hit a record high beating TCS to become the most-valued company on Dalal Street. The company now has m-cap of Rs 460,519 crore, higher than that of TCS at Rs 458,932 crore at close of trade on Monday, the BSE data showed. 

Following are the key highlights of RIL's March 2017 quarter results excerpted from a company press release:

Gross refining margins (GRMs)

Gross refining margins (GRMs) improved 6% to $11.5 per barrel as against $10.8 in the quarter ended December 2016. RIL’s GRM outperformed Singapore complex margins by $ 5.1/barrel. GRM is a measure of the difference between the per barrel price of crude oil and the value of products distilled from it.

"Strong refining and petrochemicals margin environment contributed to higher operating profits for the year. Gross refining margins recorded an eight-year-high of $11/bbl for the year, whereas petrochemicals EBIT margin were at five year high level of 14%," said RIL in a statement. 

Commentary on Reliance Jio

The company said that its telecom venture Reliance Jio crossed 50 million subscribers in just 83 days, and 100 million in 170 days, adding at an average rate of 6 lakh subscribers per day. "RJio continues its rapid ramp-up of subscriber base and as of 31st March 2017, there were 108.9 million subscribers on the network," it added. 

Gross revenues 

For the quarter ended 31st March 2017, RIL achieved a turnover of Rs 92,889 crore, an increase of 45.2%, as compared to Rs 63,954 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Increase in revenue is primarily on account of increase in prices of refining and petrochemical products on the back of higher oil prices. Turnover was also boosted by robust growth in retail business. 

Refining and marketing business

Revenue from the Refining and Marketing segment increased by 49.9% year-on-year to Rs 72,045 crore in the March quarter. Segment EBIT came in at Rs 6,294 crore, down 1.3% y-o-y on account of lower gasoline and naphtha cracks and planned Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) turnaround. 

Petrochemicals business

Revenue from the Petrochemicals segment increased by 26.4% y-o-y to Rs 26,478 crore, primarily due to increase in prices across all products, this was partially offset by lower volumes. Petrochemicals segment EBIT increased by 25.8% to Rs 3,441 crore, supported by favorable product deltas.

Oil & Gas segment

Q4FY17 revenues for the Oil & Gas segment decreased by 19.9% y-o-y to Rs 1,309 crore. Continuing weak price environment in the domestic market and declining production trend impacted segment revenues. Segment EBIT came in at Rs 486 crore, as against Rs 153 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.