Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries (RIL) reported a marginal increase of 0.75% in net profit for fourth quarter of financial year 2014 to Rs 56.31 billion. Prabhudas Lilladher had expected profit of Rs 56.5 billion.
Net sales for the quarter went up 13.06% Rs 951.93 billion for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2014 over prior year period. Angel Broking had expected revenues of Rs 1,007.26 billion.
Other income climbed 9.23% to Rs 20.36 billion for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 22.43 billion in the same period last year.
Reliance reported gross refining margin (GRM) of USD 9.3 a barrel during fourth quarter.
Commenting on the results, Mukesh D Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries Limited said, ''FY 2013-14 was a satisfying year for RIL. Refining business delivered the highest ever profits with a sharp recovery in GRMs towards the end of the year. Petrochemical earnings grew sharply with margin expansion across polymers and downstream polyester products. While we continue to face technical challenges in growing domestic upstream production, the US shale gas business grew significantly during the year and has become a material contributor to our earnings. Retail business has turned around and is now India's largest retail chain. We have also accelerated efforts to roll-out our state-of-the-art 4G services across the country which will add an exciting new dimension to our consumer facing service offerings.''
Shares of the company gained Rs 17.7, or 1.88%, to settle at Rs 958.75. The total volume of shares traded was 354,067 at the BSE (Thursday).