RIL’s oil, gas, petchem segment Q4 net up 6.7% at Rs 8,697 cr

Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday reported a 6.7 per cent rise in the net profit of its hydrocarbons business for the fourth quarter ending March at Rs 8,697 crore on the back of strong performance in the petrochemicals segment and higher inventories.

The Mukesh Ambani-led RIL had posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 8,151 crore for the hydrocarbons segment in the same quarter last year, the company said in a statement here.

RIL said it benefitted from higher volumes on account of ther ramp-up of the recently commissioned refinery off-gas cracker (ROCG) and petchem expansion projects.

The 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity ROCG at Jamnagar in Gujarat along with downstream plants and utilities was commissioned on January 2 this year.

Segment revenues during the quarter in consideration at Rs 87,227 crore jumped 16.9 per cent, over the revenue of Rs 74,598 crore during the Jannuary-March quarter of last year.

The company said the surge in revenue was primarily on account of volume increase with commissioning of petrochemicals projects, and oil price related increase in realisations for refining and petrochemical products.

Gross refining margin (GRM) for the fourth quarter dipped somewhat at $11 per barrel from $11.5 in same quarter last year.

The refining and marketing business reported a revenue of Rs 93,519 crore for the quarter, as compared to Rs 72,045 crore last year, up 28.9 per cent, primarily on account of higher crude prices during the year.

The petrochemical business reported a revenue of Rs 38,113 crore, as compared to Rs 26,478 crore, up 43.9 per cent year-on-year, mainly on account of higher volumes from new Paraxylene, ROGC and its downstream units.

The oil and gas exploration and production business reported a revenue of Rs 746 crore in the quarter in question, as compared to Rs 1,309 crore last year, down 43 per cent as volumes from conventional fields and US shale were lower on account of the natural decline and slowdown in development activity.

Commenting on the results, Chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a statement: "Reliance has become the first Indian company to record PBDIT (profit before depreciation interest and taxes) of over $10 billion with each of our key businesses - refining, petrochemicals, retail and digital services achieving record earnings performance."

With results coming after close of market hours, the RIL stock closed higher on Friday at Rs 994.75 a share, up Rs 19.40, or by 1.99 per cent, over its previous close on the BSE.

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