Reliance misses profit estimate on petrochemicals drag

RELIANCE Industries, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as the petrochemicals business continued to be a drag despite a steady growth in its consumer businesses and a large surge in other income.

Net income at India’s largest company by market value fell 1.8 per cent to 189.5 billion rupees (S$3.09 billion) for the quarter ended March 31 compared with the same period last year, according to an exchange filing on Monday (Apr 22).

That fell short of the average 197.3 billion rupees profit estimated by a Bloomberg survey of analysts. This is the fourth straight quarter that Reliance’s profit has missed street estimates. 

The energy-to-entertainment conglomerate reported a 9.5 per cent climb in revenue to 2.41 trillion rupees, topping analyst estimates.

Total costs rose 12 per cent to 2.18 trillion rupees. Other income jumped 57 per cent compared to the year-ago quarter. BLOOMBERG