Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today reported a 13.7 per cent rise in first quarter consolidated net profit on the back of higher refining margin.

Consolidated net profit in April-June quarter at Rs 5,957 crore was 13.7 per cent higher than Rs 5,237 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a filing to stock exchanges.

RIL earned $8.7 for turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the first quarter of this financial year as compared to a gross refining margin of $6.7 a barrel a year ago.

The total income increased from Rs 99,895 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 to Rs 1,06,614 crore in April-June this year.

Higher crude oil prices led to 7.2 per cent rise in cost of raw material from Rs 77,069 crore to Rs 82,631 crore. Employee cost also rose to Rs 1,480 crore in Q1 from Rs 1,415 crore a year ago. Other income fell to Rs 1,974 crore from Rs 2,392 crore. Stability in rupee helped prune interest cost on debt to Rs 505 crore from Rs 938 crore in Q1 of last fiscal.

RIL’s outstanding debt was marginally lower at Rs 135,769 crore as on June 30, 2014 when compared to Rs 138,761 crore as on March 31, 2014. It had a cash balance of Rs 81,559 crore.

Earnings from refinery business rose 7.2 per cent to Rs 98,081 crore, while segment pre-tax profit was up 29.4 per cent at Rs 3,814 crore.

During the quarter, RIL’s Jamnagar refineries processed 16.7 million tonnes, which translates into 108 per cent of the installed capacity.

Singapore refining margin in Q1 were lower at $5.8 per barrel, compared to $6.7 in the same quarter last year and $6.2 in Q4 of FY2014.

“Sequential decline in regional benchmark was on account of weakness in middle distillates and fuel oil cracks, which was partially offset by stronger gasoline and naphtha cracks,” RIL said.

Petrochemical business revenue was up 9.3 per cent at Rs 25,398 crore and the segment pre-tax profit 6 per cent to Rs 1,863 crore, primarily on account of increase in prices.

RIL said oil and gas revenue was up 27.3 per cent to Rs 3,178 crore and the segment pre-tax profit more than doubled to Rs 1,042 crore as earnings from its US shale gas business surged.

EBIT from US shale gas business at RS 559 crore was more than three times Rs 133 crore pre-tax profit in Q1 of last fiscal.

Shale gas revenue at Rs 1,617 crore was higher than its turnover of domestic exploration and production business of Rs 1,557 crore. Pre-tax profit at Rs 559 crore too was higher than domestic segement EBIT of Rs 487 crore.

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