Led by core business, Reliance profit jumps 1.7% in Sep quarter

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) beat analysts’ expectations during the July-September quarter, with its profit increasing 1.7 per cent over the year-ago period. Even as lower exports, a decline in crude oil prices and reduced refining and oil & gas volumes had a bearing on the company’s earnings during the quarter, higher profitability in the core refining & petrochemicals business helped. Good sales in the organised retail space also boosted the numbers for RIL.

On a consolidated basis, Reliance Industries’ turnover in the period stood at Rs 1,13,396 crore, a drop of 4.3 per cent from Rs 1,18,439 crore a year ago. At Rs 5,972 crore, however, its net profit was 1.7 per cent higher than Rs 5,873 crore in the same period last year. The value of its exports from India stood at Rs 66,065 crore, 14.7 per cent lower than Rs 77,428 crore in July-September 2013.

Given the group’s size, the business of Network18 Media and subsidiary TV18 Broadcast, which Reliance acquired in July this year, is not significant. But the media firm’s consolidation from this quarter also affected the year-on-year comparisons for RIL. For the July-September period, Network18 Media posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 0.4 crore on a turnover of Rs 744.8 crore.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)