India's most valued company Reliance Industries (RIL) today reported 11.5 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 3,636 crore for the first quarter of the this fiscal on falling refining margins and reduction in fuel demand in the time of global recession.
The company's profit was Rs 4,110 crore in the same period last fiscal. The decline in profit for the June quarter is the third straight fall for the refining major.
RIL earned $7.5 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the April-June quarter as opposed to a gross refining margin of $15.7 a barrel in the period a year ago.
Refining accounted for 65 per cent of its revenue, though revenue from refining dropped 22.72 per cent to Rs 25,180 crore from Rs 32,587 crore in the same period last year.
Turnover is down by 22.89 per cent to Rs 32,056 crore compared to Rs 41,579 crore in the year-ago period.
RIL, which shed the only-for-exports tag for its old Jamnagar refinery in April, converted 7.96 million tonnes (MT) of crude oil into products against 8.13 MT in Q1 of last fiscal. Exports halved to 2.7 MT as demand in US and Europe dipped.
Export revenues dropped by a massive 38.5 per cent to Rs 17,433 crore in Q1, the company said, adding that it sold higher volumes of naphtha, diesel and gasoline domestically.
Basic earning per share, an indicator of the profitability of the company's share, for the quarter was Rs 23.1 against Rs 28.3 for the same period last year, it said.
RIL said it started gas production in April from its eastern offshore KG-D6 block and produced 1,733 million cubic meters of gas during the quarter. Oil production from the block, which started last year, was 99,274 tonnes.
"Timely completion with safe and stable start up of the new SEZ refinery and the deep-water, oil and gas KG D6 block are noteworthy accomplishments.
"These projects will not only play a significant role in shaping the future growth at RIL but more importantly will help change energy landscape of India and industry globally," RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said.
Revenue from petrochemical business stood at Rs 11,540 crore in the first quarter, down by 22.4 per cent from Rs 14,871 crore in the year-ago period.
Moreover, depreciation was higher by 41.4 per cent at Rs 1,628 crore against Rs 1,151 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, primarily on account of higher depreciation in oil & gas business segment, the company said.
Net operating margin was higher at 17.8 per cent against 14.2 per cent in the year-ago period, due to incremental share of Oil & Gas business, stronger petrochemical margins, base effect of lower turnover partially offset by softer margin environment in refining.
The stock settled with a loss of 1.2% at Rs 2,014 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.
