July 21, 2012:

MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Friday reported its third consecutive drop in its quarterly profits. The profits for April-June period fell 21% to Rs 4,473 crore due to poor performance of its core businesses of refining, petrochemicals and oil & gas. RIL's shares closed down 0.7% to Rs 723 on Friday ahead of the results, which are largely in line with market expectations as analysts predicted 18-28% drop in net profits. The drop in profits were in spite of a 13.4% growth in its top line to Rs 94,926 crore and contribution of Rs 1,904 crore from other income as treasury gains from its huge cash pile accounted for 35% of the profit before tax. In its core business of refining, which accounts for over 77% of revenues, the gross refining margins (GRMs) for the quarter fell to $7.6 per barrel against GRMs of $10.2 in the year-ago period, pulling down its EBIT by over 32% to Rs 2,151 crore. The EBIT for the petrochemicals business, which accounts for 20% of revenues, fell by over 20% to Rs 1,756, lower from what the RIL made from treasury operations.

By Times of India