RIL meets Street estimates, Q4 net at Rs 5,631 cr

Reliance Group flagship company Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday reported net profit of Rs 5,631 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 5,589 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, which is a marginal rise of 0.8 percent.

Although profits during the reporting quarter were driven by higher refining margins at $9.3/barrel for the quarter, the gross refining margin (GRM) in the comparable quarter of the previous fiscal was a tad higher at $10.1/barrel.

During the quarter under review, RIL's turnover rose to Rs 97,807 crore, an increase of 12.9 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal at Rs 86,618 crore, while total income of the oil and gas major increased 12.48 per cent to Rs 97,229 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 from Rs 86,441 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Commenting on the results, RIL Chairman & Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said, "Fiscal 2014 was a satisfying year for RIL. The refining business delivered the highest ever profits with sharp recovery in GRMs towards the end of the year.

Petrochem earnings grew sharply with margin expansion across polymers and downstream polyester products. While we continue to face technical challenges in growing domestic upstream production, the US shale gas business grew significantly during the year and has become a material contributor to our earnings."

Ambani said that the retail business has turned around and is now India's largest retail chain. On the telecom business he said, "We have also accelerated efforts to roll out our state-of-the-art 4G services across the country which will add an exciting new dimension to our consumer facing service offerings."

For the financial year ended March 31, 2014, RIL posted consolidated net profit of Rs 22,493 crore as compared to Rs 20,879 crore a year earlier. Turnover touched Rs 401,302 crore ($67 billion), an increase of 8.1 per cent compared to Rs 371,119 crore in the previous year.

Higher prices accounted for 7.7 per cent growth in revenues while increase in volumes accounted for 0.4 per cent growth. Exports were higher by 15.3 per cent at Rs 275,825 crore as against Rs 239,226 crore in 2012-13.

Operating profit before other income and depreciation increased 0.3 per cent on a YoY basis from Rs 30,787 crore to Rs 30,877 crore due to higher contribution from the petrochemical and refinery business partly offset by lower contribution from the upstream oil and gas business.

Cash profit increased 1 per cent to Rs 30,795 crore ($ 5.1 billion).
RIL’s board on Friday recommended a dividend of Rs 9.50 per fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each, subject to shareholder approval at the company's AGM scheduled to be held on June 05, 2014.

On the retail front, Reliance Retail achieved record performance in sales and profits for the year as total revenues grew 34 per cent to Rs 14,496 crore and achieved PBDIT (profit before depreciation, interest and taxes) of Rs 363 crore for the year. In effect, the retail business has established market leadership in almost all the sectors it operates in.

The company added 225 stores and 2.7 million operational square feet during the year across sectors. As on March 31, 2014, Reliance Retail operated 1,691 stores across 146 cities, with 11.7 million of operating square feet.