Reliance Q1 net profit up 28.5%, beats forecasts

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 31 July 2003, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd said on Thursday that its quarterly net profit rose a better-than-expected 28.5 per cent from a year earlier. Reliance, India's most valuable private-sector company, with a market value of $10.5 billion, posted a net profit of Rs 11.8 billion ($255.7 million) in its first quarter ended June 30. That compared with a profit of Rs 9.18 billion last year. The net profit was above the forecast in a Reuters poll of 12 analysts that expected Reliance to report a net profit of Rs 9.65 billion for the first quarter. Profit rose despite prices for its mainstay petrochemical products sagging amid weak demand and strikes by truck drivers and loom owners. The company was hit by softer petrochemical prices, which fell due to a global cyclical downturn, a cut in Indian import duties, the rupee's two per cent gain against the dollar and an inventory pile-up due to the Iraq war.