Mumbai, Oct 29 (IANS) The net profit of oil-to-petrochemicals major Reliance Industries (RIL) dropped 6.41 percent to Rs.3,852 crore (approximately $815 million) for the quarter ended Sep 30, compared to the Rs.4,116 crore it netted in the corresponding period last fiscal.
The fall in profit, which was in line with analysts’ prediction, was due to lower refining margins and were partially offset by the gas production from the D6 block in the Krishna-GOdavari basin.

In a regulatory statement Thursday, the company said it registered a turnover of Rs.48,843 crore (about $10.33 billion), an increase of 6.1 percent from the Rs.46,014 crore it earned in the year-ago period.

“The timely completion of the new SEZ refinery and the deepwater, oil and gas from KG D6 block and their safe and stable ramp-up are noteworthy accomplishment for the company,” said Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani.

“These projects have contributed meaningfully in RIL achieving a record level of profits despite the challenging business and economic environment,” Ambani said in a statement.

The revenues from the petrochemicals business dropped to Rs.13,340 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs.15,548 crore earned in the previous corresponding quarter.

The gross refining margin (GRM) for the six months ended Sep 30 was $6.3 per billion barrels, as against $14.4 per billion barrels in the first half last fiscal.

Decrease in prices accounted for 45.2 percent reduction in revenues, partially offset by higher volumes that accounted for 36.5 percent growth in income.

The earnings per share also saw a dip to Rs.23.4 from Rs.27.

The Reliance scrip ended 1.56 percent down at Rs.2,003.85 Thursday on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The results were announced after the markets closed.