By: Pramod Thomas
INDIA’s Reliance Industries reported a double-digit jump in fourth-quarter revenue on Monday (22), helped by steady growth in its consumer-facing businesses.
Reliance is led by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and is India’s most valuable company by market capitalisation.
Operating revenue rose over 11 per cent to $28.8 billion (£23.3bn) in the January-March quarter, it said in an earnings release.
But consolidated net profit fell 1.8 per cent to $2.3bn (£1.9bn), hurt mainly by higher expenses.
The Mumbai-headquartered enterprise has been driven by its oil and petrochemicals businesses, before diversifying in recent years.
The company’s consumer divisions remain bright spots with its retail arm reporting a 11.7 per cent increase in profit, while its telecom unit added 10.9 million net subscribers during the fourth quarter.
Its topline growth was also helped by a 10.9 percent year-on-year revenue bump in its key oil-to-chemical (O2C) segment, which a Reliance statement attributed to higher volumes and prices.
“Strong demand for fuels globally, and limited flexibility in refining system worldwide, supported margins and profitability,” Ambani said.
Full-year revenue to March 31 came in at $119.9bn (£97bn), up 2.6 per cent on-year, with net profit up 7.2 per cent to $9.47bn (£7.7bn).
(AFP)
