Reliance Energy net up 155% in third quarter

BS 200 SCORECARD

Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) has reported a 155 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 135 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2004, compared with Rs 53 crore for the the quarter ended December 31, 2003.

Total Income has increased from Rs 900 crore in quarter ended December 31, 2004 to Rs 1,135 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, thereby registeringa 26 percent growth.

In a meeting today, the REL board approved quarterly dividend of Rs 1.10 per equity share, amounting to a payout of Rs 23.1 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2004.

Total dividend payment for the nine months is Rs 3.30 per share, amounting to a payout of Rs 69.5 crore.

For the nine months ended December 2004, total income of the company registered an increase of 11 per cent growth of Rs 3,003 crore, against Rs 2,706 crore. Net profit, during the nine months stood at Rs 366 crore, against Rs 267 crore in the corresponding previous period thereby registeroing an increase of 37 per cent.

According to a company release, the net profit of Rs 366 crore has been arrived at after taking into consideration expenses aggregating Rs 95 crore for the nine months. The release added that excluding this, the net profit would have been higher at Rs 461 crore, an increase of 73 percent.

During the period under review, the equity capital of the company has increased by Rs. 10.4 crore to Rs 185.6 crore, consequent upon preferential allotment of equity shares to the Reliance group, and part conversion of outstanding foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

The company in its notice to the BSE re-affirmed its commitment to the implementation of the Dhirubhai Ambani Energy City (DAEC). A 3,740 MW power project at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, being set up at an estimated capital outlay of Rs 11,000 crore.

The REL board noted that the Reliance Industries, the principal promoters, has confirmed that gas from the KG-D6 gas fields will be available as feedstock for the DAEC project.

In line with the revised schedule for gas availability as communicated by RIL, the DAEC project is to be commissioned by the year 2008-09, the notice adds.

Reliance Energy Generation Ltd, (REGL), the company implementing the DAEC project has already floated a global tender, inviting international competitive bids, for the supply of gas, and RIL will be participating in the tender.

There has been keen interest indicated by multiple global producers of gas for the DAEC project, and in the event that gas availability can be tied up from sources other than RIL, the project start-up could be potentially accelerated for implementation.

Jhunjhunwala, Ramachandran resignations accepted

Reliance Energy has informed the Bombay Stock exchange that the board has accepted resignations of two directors"" Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and J Ramachandran.

Four directors, namely executive vice chairman Satish Seth, director (business development) J.P Chalasani, director (operations) S C Gupta, and director (finance) K H Mankad withdrew their resignations.