Reliance Industries Ltd, India's biggest listed firm, posted on Monday a 24 per cent rise in quarterly net profit that beat analysts' expectations, boosted by high refining margins.
The petrochemicals and refinery giant, valued at more than $96 billion, is expected to report better earnings this fiscal year after it begins to pump gas from its deep-sea fields off India's east coast.
Net profit for the January-March period, the company's fiscal fourth quarter, rose to 39.12 billion rupees ($978 million), from 31.56 billion a year earlier.
Thirteen analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a net profit of 37.4 billion rupees and net sales of 356.3 billion rupees.
Reliance Industries said refining margins for the March quarter were $15.5 a barrel, well above the benchmark Asian Dubai crack margin, which averaged about $7 a barrel.
Shares in the company ended 0.2 per cent higher at 2,642.15 rupees in a Mumbai market that rose 1.6 per cent.
Shares in Reliance Industries slumped 21.4 per cent in the January-March quarter, outperforming the sector index's 24.7 per cent drop and the main BSE index's 22.9 per cent fall.
($1 = 40 Indian rupees)
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