Reliance Industries, India's biggest company by market value, on Thursday reported 14 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 5,376 crore in the fourth quarter of the past fiscal as natural gas production from its mainstay field declined.
Net profit in three months ending March 31 rose 14.1 per cent to Rs 5,376 crore, or Rs 16.4 per share, from Rs 5,136 crore (Rs 15.7 a share) in the same period the previous year, Reliance said in a press statement here.
Gas output from its KG-D6 field off the Andhra coast has dropped to less than 50 million standard cubic meters per day on declining pressure at the reservoir. Reliance anticipates output will further drop to 46-47 mmscmd by next fiscal.
Reliance did not give average production from KG-D6 fields during the January-March quarter but analysts anticipated it was about 20 per cent lower than 61.5 mmscmd output achieved in March 2010.
Besides KG-D6, gas production from Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields in western offshore also dipped. Crude oil production from KG-D6 has also lower as wells produced higher water.
Revenues from oil and gas business declined 5 per cent to Rs 4,104 crore in the fourth quarter while the segment profit or earning before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 8 per cent to Rs 1,569 crore.
Reliance reported margin of $9.2, the highest in the last eight quarters, indicating recovery in the refining business globally.
Reliance earned $9.2 on turning every barrel of crude oil into petroleum products in the January-March quarter as against USD 7.5 per barrel gross refining margin (GRM) in the same period a year ago.
Revenues from the segment was up 22 per cent at Rs 62,704 crore and EBIT rose 26 per cent to Rs 2,509 crore.
The company reported a record net profit of Rs 20,286 crore in the 2010-11 full fiscal, up 25 per cent from Rs 16,236 crore of the previous financial year.
Revenues soared 29 per cent to Rs 258,651 crore.
"Reliance had a record year with strong financial and operating performance. Global economic growth, emerging markets demand and tightness in the markets led to recovery in refining margins and record petrochemical earnings," company Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said.
He said Reliance has entered into a strategic partnership with UK's BP Plc to "exploit the full potential" of domestic upstream portfolio.
"Our committed investments in core business and new initiatives are expected to result in sustained earnings growth," he added.
In the year ended March 31, Reliance earned a gross refining margin of $8.4 per barrel against $6.6 a barrel GRM in the previous financial year.
In Q4, Reliance processed 16.7 million tonnes of crude oil at its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat, reflecting a capacity utilisation rate of 108 per cent. It processed a record 66.6 million tonnes of crude during the full year.
Revenue from its petrochemical business rose 18 per cent to Rs 18,194 crore and segment EBIT grew by an equal measure to Rs 2,626 crore.
Reliance said turnover in 2010-11 was Rs 258,651 crore, an increase of 29 per cent over the previous year. "Increase in volume accounted for 11 per cent growth in revenue and higher prices accounted for 18 per cent growth in revenue."
Exports were higher by 33 per cent at Rs 146,667 crore (USD 32.9 billion) as against Rs 110,176 crore (USD 24.5 billion) in the previous year.
Outstanding debt as on March 31, 2011 was Rs 67,397 crore compared to Rs 62,495 crore as on March 31, 2010. Reliance had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 42,393 crore.
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