RIL Q4 profit boosted by strong refining margins

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a much better than expected 8.5 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by a strong performance in its core refining business, which posted its strongest margins in eight quarters.

The company, which operates the world's biggest refining complex, said its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 31 was 63.81 billion rupees ($1.02 billion), compared with 58.81 billion a year earlier.

Its gross refining margin - or profit from each barrel of crude oil refined - reached $10.1 in the fourth quarter from $9.3 in the same period a year earlier.

Reliance has been dogged by an inability to stop a decline in its oil and gas business and by investor concerns about its earmarked investment of close to $12 billion into its fourth-generation (4G) telecoms service, which has yet to be launched.

However, heavy investments into expansions of capacity at its refining and petrochemicals businesses have helped the company improve efficiency.

The refining business accounted for over 70 percent of the company's gross turnover in the year ended March 2015.

On a standalone basis, Reliance reported an 11 percent rise in profit during the period to 62.43 billion rupees, beating average analyst expectations of 58.74 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Shares of Reliance, the second-largest Indian company by market value, closed down 0.06 percent ahead of the results on Friday, while the benchmark index ended down 0.78 percent.

($1 = 62.3400 rupees)

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Mumbai; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques)