Higher treasury gains, refining margins boost RIL net by 19%

Better refining margins, forex gains and huge treasury income helped Reliance Industries report a full 18.9 per cent rise in June quarter net profit at Rs 5,352 crore even though total revenue declined 4.6 per cent.
This is the third consecutive rise in quarterly profit for the company that runs the world's largest refinery complex even as revenue from domestic gas fell.
Revenue from oil and gas business fell 42 per cent after weakening nearly 39 per cent in previous quarter, and so was output. However, overseas assets helped compensate for this as US shale gas business reported an 84 per cent rise in revenue.

Overall, RIL reported a 4.6 per cent drop in turnover to Rs 90,589 crore from Rs 94,927 crore a year ago.
RIL posted earnings per share of 16.6 in June quarter compared to Rs 13.8 per share (Rs 4,503 crore profit) in the same period a year earlier, it said here late this evening.
Other income soared to Rs 2,535 crore during the reporting period from Rs 1,904 crore a year ago, on the back of treasury income and sale investments. Cash balance rose to Rs 93,066 crore from around Rs 83,000 crore as of March 2013.

Other income, mainly treasury-related gains, accounted for around 38 per cent of the pre-tax profit for the quarter.

Gross refining margins improved by 80 US cents to USD 8.4 per barrel from USD 7.6 a barrel during the quarter
RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani in a statement said: "Reliance achieved strong results during the first quarter of FY14, while investing in projects that will provide sustainable advantage for a longer period."
Chief financial officer Alok Agarwal told reporters the numbers are "better than their own expectations".
Ahead of results, RIL shares hit a six-month high of Rs 923.15 on BSE but closed a tad down at Rs 923.15. RIL shares shares have gained 10 percent so far this year, outperforming a 3.7 per cent rise in BSE benchmark Sensex.

Religare Institutional Research energy analyst Nitin Tiwari in a note said: "RIL's net is in line with street expectations, but Ebitda at Rs 7,100 crore is disappointing. But other income (coming) higher than estimates makes up for the disappointment on this front.