Mumbai, July 24: Strong refining margins have helped Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to meet street expectations on its first-quarter numbers.

The Mukesh Ambani flagship posted a net profit of Rs 4,110 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared with Rs 3,630 crore in the same period last year, a rise of 13 per cent.

Analysts had estimated Reliance to report quarterly earnings of close to Rs 4,100 crore.

Like in the past few quarters, the refining business came to the aid of RIL.

Gross refining margin (GRM) — the difference between the value of petroleum products and the crude price — rose to $15.7 per barrel, up from $15.4 per barrel in the same period last year.

However, some analysts who were expecting a GRM of $16 per barrel were disappointed.

For the first quarter, Reliance posted a net turnover of Rs 41,579 crore against Rs 29,524 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. With other income at Rs 226 crore (Rs 197 crore), the total income stood at Rs 41,805 crore (Rs 29,721 crore).

“At Reliance we continued to scale new peaks in financial performance despite challenging business environment, including domestic inflation and weakening of the leading economies of the world,” Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said about the quarterly performance.

According to Reliance, the 38 per cent growth rate in turnover was because of a 26 per cent surge in prices and a 2 per cent rise in volumes. Exports were higher by 112 per cent at Rs 28,357 crore.

Revenues for the refining and marketing segment increased 46 per cent from Rs 22,328 crore to Rs 32,587 crore mainly because of high product prices driven by high crude oil prices.

The Jamnagar refinery processed 8.13 million tonnes of crude, a utilisation rate of 98.5 per cent compared with 8.01 million tonnes of crude oil processed during the corresponding period of the previous year. Revenues of the petrochemical division grew to Rs 14,871 crore from Rs 13,213 crore last year.

Gas case

Arguments today resumed in Bombay High Court on the dispute between RIL and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) over gas sale.

Appearing on behalf of RIL, counsel Harish Salve said the production of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin could begin by September.