Reliance Q3 net falls but beats forecast

India's Reliance Q3 net falls but beats f'cast
Reliance Q3 net falls 8.8 pct, beats f'cast Business News Reuters
Reliance Q3 net falls 8.8%, first drop in 3 years
RIL may lift market on Friday

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's largest listed company, Reliance Industries Ltd, said its quarterly earnings fell 9.8 percent from a restated year-ago profit, its first drop in three years, but beat forecasts as refining margin eased less than expected.
"This was one of the most challenging quarters for Reliance with volatility in prices and margins," Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said in a statement on Thursday.
"Producers and consumers are coming to terms with slower global trade and economic outlook," he said.
Reliance, India's largest petrochemical producer and refiner, is set to get a boost when it starts pumping 30-40 million cubic metres of natural gas a day from its deep-sea fields off India's east coast in the second half of February.
Another driver would be sales from the newly commissioned 580,000 barrels per day refinery which is run by subsidiary Reliance Petroleum.
Reliance Industries said net profit fell to 35.01 billion rupees ($713 million) in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31 from a restated 38.82 billion rupees excluding one-off gains a year earlier.
A Reuters poll had forecast a net profit of 30.98 billion rupees.
Refining margins, a key measure of profitability, dropped to $10 per barrel from $15.4 a barrel a year ago, against market expectations of $9.16 as sluggish demand in the wake of global economic slowdown pushed oil prices sharply lower.
Reliance's refining margins are significantly higher than the Asian benchmark in Dubai as its refinery can process cheaper heavy crude to produce high value products.

rude oil prices plunged more than $100 from its peak of $147 barrel in July, to $44.60 at the end of December.
Reliance's retail fuel pumps in the country are shut as it awaits fair competition. India subsidises state-run oil companies to enable them to sell fuels at heavily discounted, government-set rates but private firms get no such assistance.
Last week, P. Raghavendran, president of the company's refinery business, said Reliance would reopen its fuel pumps "once we see a reasonable period of stability when we don't have to shut down again. It depends on when the government comes out with a clear policy and international prices stabilise".
Rival Oil & Natural Gas Corp is set to report a second consecutive fall in quarterly net profit due to lower crude prices, and its outlook is weighed down by falling output and its costly acquisition of UK-listed Imperial Energy.
Earlier on Thursday, South Korea's top refiner SK Energy posted a weaker-than-expected 45 percent rise in fourth-quarter core profit, on reduced demand for petrochemical products.
Ahead of the results, shares in Reliance, which has a market value of around $36 billion, closed up 1.21 percent at 1,132.95 rupees in a Mumbai market that rose 0.4 percent.
The stock fell 37 percent in the December quarter, more than a 25 percent drop in the benchmark index and 33 percent loss in the sector index.
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Reliance Q3 net falls 8.8%, first drop in 3 years
ndia's largest listed company, Reliance Industries Ltd, said its quarterly profit fell 8.8 percent, its first drop in three years, but beat forecasts as refining margins did not fall as much as expected. The petrochemical and refining giant reported a net profit of Rs 3,501 crore ($713 million) for its fiscal third quarter ended December 31, compared with Rs 3,837 crore excluding one-off gains reported a year earlier. A Reuters poll had forecast a net profit of 30.98 billion rupees. The company is set to get an earnings boost when it starts pumping 30-40 million cubic metres of natural gas a day from its deep-sea fields off India's east coast in the second half of February. Ahead of the results, shares in Reliance, which has a market value of around $36 billion, closed up 1.21 percent at Rs 1,132.95 in a Mumbai market that rose 0.4 percent. The stock fell 37 percent in the December quarter, more than a 25 percent drop in the benchmark index and 33 percent loss in the sector index.
Accounting change added over Rs 1k cr to RIL's profit

Other Results:

Cipla Q3 net up 6 per cent at Rs 223 cr
Ranbaxy posts Rs 679.8 crore loss in Q4
Idea Cellular's net rises to Rs 256 crore
Reliance Power post Q3 net profit of Rs 107.07 crore
Idea Cellular Q3 net profit up 20% YoY
Reliance Power post Q3 net profit of Rs 107.07 cr
Kotak Mahindra Bank Q3 net falls 30%

Reliance Q3 net falls 8.8%, first drop in 3 years
Bank of India Q3 revenue up 45.57% y-o-y
Bharti takes Rs 245 cr hit in Q3 PAT on losses in FCCBs
Bharti Airtel Q3 net up 15%
Indian Bank Q3 net up 14.05%

Uco Bank net profit at Rs 172 crore
Wipro posts 18% rise in Q3 net profit
India Infoline Q3 net falls 68%
HDFC Q3 net profit down 16% YoY, share falls 6%
Biocon reports a net profit of Rs 24 crore
RIL Q3 net profit down 9.8% at Rs 3501 cr
Bharti Airtel Q3 net up 15.26% at Rs 1976.4 cr, QoQ

Reliance Infra Q3 net profit at Rs 251.19 cr
Coromandel Fert Q3 cons net profit at Rs 131.2 cr
Praj Industries Q3 net profit at Rs 47.3 cr
Noida Toll Bridge Q2 net profit at Rs 8.4 cr
Gateway Distriparks Q3 net profit at Rs 28.7 cr
Bank of India Q3 net profit at Rs 872.2 cr

SOurce:ET,Indiaearnings.com etc