RIL shares hit 52-week high as analysts expect 17% rise in net profit

RIL shares hit 52-week high as analysts expect 17% rise in net profitStock in Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) hit its 52-week high of Rs 893.1 a share before closing at Rs 889.65 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after an analysts' poll said that the conglomerate would enjoy a year-on-year increase of 17 per cent in net profit to Rs 5,200 crore and a rise of 6 per cent in revenue to Rs 90,000 crore in the quarter through December.

Analysts expect RIL's petrochemicals business to offset weak gross refining margins due to the declining output from KG-D6 oil & gas block. Apart from the petrochemicals business, RIL's revenue is also expected to get a boost from higher incomes from other businesses.

Brokerage BRICS said in a report that average gas production from the company's D6 block would decline 13 per cent and 42 per cent quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, respectively, to 26 mmscmd.

Projecting performance figures about RIL's December quarter, the brokerage said, "We expect RIL's GRM to expand by 31 percent yoy, but contract by 6 percent qoq to $8.9 per barrel."

The decline in exploration & production (E&P) EBIT has been attributed to 36 per cent decline in oil & gas volumes year-on-year.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Singapore expects the conglomerate's other income to rise 35 per cent. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch attributed the projected increase in the conglomerate's other income to rising interest income from the increasing cash.