Reliance Industries Posts Record Profit Of Rs 10,362 Crore In March Quarter

Reliance Industries (RIL), the oil-to-telecom conglomerate promoted by Mukesh Ambani, on Thursday reported a record net profit of Rs 10,362 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, surpassing expectations of analysts helped by strong growth in its retail businesses. This is the highest quarterly profit by any Indian private sector company. RIL's profit rose 9.79 per cent from Rs 9,438 crore registered in the corresponding period a year ago. Analysts polled on an average expected the Mumbai-based company to post a profit of Rs 9,920 crore, news agency Reuters reported citing Refinitiv data.

Its revenue from operations after deducting Goods and Services Tax (GST) rose 17.88 per cent to Rs 1.42 lakh crore in January-March quarter compared with Rs 1.20 lakh crore in the same period last year.

Commenting on the results, Mukesh D. Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries said: "During FY 2018-19, we achieved several milestones and made significant strides in building Reliance of the future. Reliance Retail crossed Rs 100,000 crore revenue milestone, Jio now serves over 300 million consumers and our petrochemicals business delivered its highest ever earnings.

"The Company has delivered record consolidated net profit of Rs 39,588 crore for the year in a period of heightened volatility in the energy markets. I am delighted to highlight that our Company has more than doubled its PBDIT in last five years to Rs 92,656 crore - establishing a global benchmark for value creation," Mr Ambani said.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, reported net profit of Rs 840 crore in March quarter, up 65 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) from Rs 510 crore. Its operating revenue came in at Rs 11,106 crore, Reliance Industries said.

Jio's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key matrix for telecom companies, came in at Rs 126.2 per subscriber per month.

Reliance Retail delivered a record-breaking performance in revenue and profits growth for the year 2018-19. Segment revenues for FY19 grew by 88.7 per cent (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1.30 lakh crore as against Rs 69,198 crore in the previous year, according to Reliance Industries.

On the oil refining front, its gross refining margin (GRM), a measure of how much the company earns by refining a barrel of crude oil, declined 7 per cent sequentially to $8.2 per barrel from $8.8 per barrel. On Y-o-Y basis its GRMs declined 25.45 per cent from $11 per barrel.

Revenue from the refining and marketing segment in March quarter decreased by 6.1 per cent (Y-o-Y) to Rs 87,844 crore ($ 12.7 billion) while segment's EBIT or operating profit declined by 25.5 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 4,176 crore ($ 603 million). Refining and marketing segment performance was impacted by lower crude throughout due to planned maintenance.

Revenue from petrochemicals segment increased by 11.3 per cent (Y-o-Y) to Rs 42,414 crore.

For the financial year 2018-19, Reliance Industries net profit stood at Rs 39,588 crore compared with Rs 36,075 crore in financial year 2017-18, up 9.73 per cent.

Reliance Industries board recommended dividend of Rs 6.5 per share of Rs 10 each for financial year 2019, the company said in an exchange filing.

Shares in Reliance Industries ended 3.15 per cent higher on the NSE, outperforming the Nifty which finished 0.29 per cent lower, ahead of the earnings announcement by the company.