Reliance Industries second quarter profit up 7 percent, lags estimates

(Reuters) - Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd posted a 7.3 percent rise in its second-quarter standalone net profit, buoyed by higher margins from its core refining and petrochemical businesses.

Profit on a standalone basis, which includes refining, petrochemicals and oil and gas exploration businesses, rose to 82.65 billion rupees ($1.27 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, its highest ever. But that was below analysts' average estimate of 88.05 billion rupees, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Refining, petrochemicals and oil and gas exploration businesses, which account for over 90 percent of the company's overall revenue and profit, delivered an 11.5 percent rise in quarterly revenue from operations to 717.61 billion rupees.

Gross refining margin, the profit earned on each barrel of crude processed, was $12.0 for the quarter, outperforming the benchmark Singapore complex margins by $3.7 per barrel.

On a consolidated basis, which also includes Reliance Industries' U.S. shale gas, retail and other operations, profit came in at 81.09 billion rupees, the company said in a filing on Friday.

Its telecoms arm Jio Infocomm Ltd, which upended the telecoms industry with its free calls and cheaper data plans, posted a loss of 2.71 billion rupees.

Ahead of the results, shares in Reliance hit a record high of 890.7 rupees, rising as much as 2.1 percent.

($1 = 64.9550 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)