RIL net jumps 52% on strong refining margin

Riding on strong refining margins, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India's largest private company, today announced an over 52 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 2,091 crore for the quarter ended December 2004 compared with Rs 1,374 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company reported a 42.1 per cent rise in its net turnover at Rs 17,768 crore in the quarter versus Rs 12,500 crore during the quarter ended December 2003.

This is the first financial result of the company announced after the feud between Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, and Anil Ambani, vice chairman and managing director, went public following a comment by the company' chairman in November 2004.

RIL, which operates India's largest refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, reported a $9.82 per barrel gross refining margin in the quarter.

Refining margins were robust across all the regions around the world with product price increases surging ahead of the rise in crude prices.

However, from the peak price of $55.7 per barrel in October 2004, crude prices have dropped by $10 per barrel in December 2004 before perking up a bit to $48.25 per barrel on January 20.

The refining business contributed around 54 per cent of RIL's gross turnover of Rs 24,855 crore during the quarter, while petrochemicals accounted for 44.34 per cent. Other businesses, including telecom, accounted for less than 2 per cent of the turnover.

During the quarter under review, the company's other income was higher at Rs 331 crore, compared to Rs 223 crore for the corresponding quarter of 2003. Interest outgo was lower at Rs 205 crore compared with Rs 364 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

For the nine-month period, the company's net profit stood at Rs 5,280 crore, an increase of 41 per cent compared with Rs 3,741 crore in the same period of the previous year.

The company's net turnover rose 27.90 per cent to Rs 48,212 crore, from Rs 37,694 crore for the nine months ended December 2003.

In the nine month period, the company's refinery achieved 96 per cent capacity utilisation and processed 23.69 million tonnes of crude.

Reliance Industries made inroads into retailing by setting up 280 retail outlets to sell transportation fuels like petrol and diesel. The company intends to have a significant presence in retailing by the end of March 2005.