Reliance Industries' net up 26 per cent

This excludes the exceptional profit of Rs 4,733 crore out of the sale of Reliance Petroleum shares in November 2007, reports Suman Layak.

Reliance Industries reported a 26 per cent increase in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, at Rs 3,882 crore, excluding exceptional profit of Rs 4,733 crore out of the sale of Reliance Petroleum shares in November 2007. In the corresponding quarter of 2006 the company had recorded a net profit of Rs 3,081 crore.

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The company has recorded a 21 per cent increase in sales at Rs 35,880 crore in the last quarter, up from Rs 29,753 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2006. In the nine months completed on December 31, Reliance Industries also crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in sales. The earning per share, excluding the exceptional profit, stood at Rs 26.70.

The quarter will also be interesting for Reliance Industries, as 22 new companies became subsidiaries of it in the period. These indicate the various new areas that the group is likely to move into. While some of these companies may have been formed earlier and became subsidiaries in this quarter, some were incorporated recently.

Apart from new subsidiaries and new businesses, the company also said in the statement issued along with the results that it was looking at acquisitions of oil and gas assets in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The company reported a gross refining margin of $15.4 per barrel. This is way ahead of regional benchmarks like Singapore (Dubai) at $7.7 and Rotterdam (Brent) at $5.3. Reliance's refining margin has also increased quarter on quarter from $11.7 to the current level and the company said the ability to focus on products like gasoil, jet fuel and kerosene, where margins were firm, helped Reliance.