Reliance Industries, India’s second-largest company by market capitalisation, saw its net profit rise 12.52 per cent to ₹6,720 crore in the September quarter on higher-than-expected refining margins. The profit in the corresponding year-ago quarter was ₹5,972 crore.
Consolidated revenue fell 34 per cent year-on-year from ₹1,13,396 crore in Q2 FY15 to ₹75,117 crore in the current quarter. The decline in revenue was due to global benchmark (Brent) crude oil prices halving to around $45 a barrel from last year.
Barring retail, all major business verticals, while remaining profitable, saw significant drops in revenue this quarter: income from the refining and marketing business fell 41 per cent to ₹60,768 crore; petrochemicals took a 20 per cent hit, to fall to ₹21,239 crore; and income from the exploration and production business fell 31 per cent to ₹2,067 crore. Revenues from the shale oil and gas business in the US fell 45 per cent quarter-on-quarter to ₹897 crore. Organised retail was the sole business vertical with higher revenues year-on-year. It grew 22.2 per cent to ₹5,091 crore from ₹4,167 crore in the previous year.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, said in a press statement: “We achieved record levels of EBITDA and profits for the quarter, underscoring our ability to optimally utilise our assets across the value chain to leverage favourable market conditions.”
At its flagship refining business, the company improved its gross refining margins (the difference between the cost of crude and the average price of refined products) to $10.6 a barrel. The corresponding figures had been $10.4 in the June 2015 quarter and $8.3 in the September 2014 quarter.