Reliance Industries on Friday reported highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs 6,720 crore for three months ending September 30 on spike in refinery and petrochemicals margins.
Net profit for July-September quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal rose 12.5 per cent to Rs 6,720 crore, or Rs 22.8 per share, from Rs 5,972 crore, or Rs 20.3 a share, in the same period of last fiscal, the company said in a statement.
Sales however fell 33.8 per cent to Rs 75,117 crore on benchmark crude oil prices halving.
The operator of world's biggest oil-refinery complex earned USD 9 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during second quarter of the current fiscal as compared to a gross refining margin of USD 3.7 per barrel in the year ago period.
The GRMs in September quarter were at 7-year high and the company's Jamnagar refineries in Gujarat earn USD 4.3 per barrel more than Singapore average.
The net profit included gains of Rs 252 crore from sale of investment in US shale gas pipeline venture, EFS Midstream LLC.
Net profit after excluding exceptional items was up 4 per cent to Rs 6,468 crore.
Pre-tax profit from petrochemical business was up 7.2 per cent while that from the oil and gas business declined over 70 per cent on fall in KG-D6 output.
The company also announced start of sale of mobile handsets ahead of its much talked about launch of 4G telephony and broadband data services in December.
The handsets will have dual sim to allow users to use the phone on their current operators till Reliance Jio launches services. Once the services are launched, the user can put the Reliance Jio sim card in the other slot.
RIL Chairman Mukesh D Ambani said: "We achieved record levels of EBITDA and profits for the quarter, underscoring our ability to optimally utilise our assets across the value chain to leverage favourable market conditions."
Refining business performance was notable as it benefited from a combination of high utilisation levels, advantageous crude market opportunities and strong global fuels demand, he said, adding that petrochemicals performance reflects strong volume growth, product mix improvement and lower energy costs.
Reliance Retail achieved a milestone of Rs 5,000 crore quarterly turnover mark for the first time, reflecting continuing growth momentum in physical retailing, he said.
"In Digital Services, we have substantially completed the network roll-out across the country and initiated the process of beta testing of our network and platforms," he added.