Reliance Industries Ltd., India's biggest company by market value, declined in Mumbai trading after fourth-quarter profit missed estimates.
The shares fell 1.6 percent, the most since April 19, to 1,071.25 rupees. Reliance has gained 20 percent in the past year, trailing the benchmark Sensitive Index's 57 percent increase.
Net income in the three months ended March 31 rose 30 percent to 47.1 billion rupees ($1.1 billion), or 14.40 rupees a share, from 36.3 billion rupees, or 11.50 rupees, the Mumbai- based energy explorer and refiner said in an e-mailed statement April 23. That compares with a 51.4 billion-rupee mean profit estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
"Shares falling today are primarily a response to the lower-than-expected earnings," said Neil Beveridge, an energy analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. in Hong Kong, who has an "outperform" rating on the stock. "Refining is still very weak and there is still a question about when it will pick up again."
The explorer and refiner, controlled by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, increased output from the KG-D6 field off India's east coast as accelerating economic growth spurred demand from power and fertilizer producers. Profits from processing crude oil may remain "under pressure" because of a large increase in Asian refining capacity, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in February.
Refining Profit
Reliance's 1.24 million barrel-a-day Jamnagar refining complex in the western Indian state of Gujarat operated at 108 percent, according to the statement. Pretax profit from refining fell to 19.9 billion rupees, or 34 percent of the total, compared with 49 percent a year earlier.
Net sales in the quarter more than doubled to 575.7 billion rupees, Reliance said. The company also operates chemical plants and fuel-retail outlets.
Profit was the highest in nine quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit a year earlier, adjusted for one- time items, was 39.6 billion rupees, the company said.
Reliance earned $7.50 on every barrel of crude it turned to fuels in the quarter, the company said. That compares with $9.90 a barrel reported a year earlier.
Global refining margins rose to $3.08 a barrel in the three-month period from $1.49 a barrel in the quarter ended Dec. 31, according to BP Plc data.
BP said refining margins will "remain depressed." Adjusted earnings at Europe's biggest oil company rose 68 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, falling short of estimates.
Reliance had outstanding debt of about 625 billion rupees as of March 31 and cash and equivalents of 218.7 billion rupees, according to the statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi at rkatakey@bloomberg.
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