20 JANUARY 2016

Ø  Reliance Industries third-quarter profit surged 39 per cent to Rs. 7,290 crore, an eight-year high, helped by a fall in global crude oil prices. The Mumbai-headquartered oil-to-retail conglomerate earned $11.50 for every barrel of crude it processed during the quarter, the highest in seven years, compared to margins of $7.3 a barrel a year earlier. Reliance, headed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, which was India’s most profitable firm till December 2014, had lost its position to TCS and then to state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in June 2015. During this December quarter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a net profit of Rs. 5,957 crore. The company posted a 24 per cent fall in revenue during the December quarter to Rs. 73,341 crore but the operator of the world’s biggest refining complex saw margins widening on turning crude into fuels due to falling crude oil prices. Refining contributes a significant two-third of RIL’s profits and 70 per cent of its revenues. Refining and marketing business saw 99 per cent growth in EBIT to Rs. 6,491 crore while petrochemicals segment saw 28 per cent growth in EBIT to Rs. 2,639 crore. Mr. Ambani’s net worth increased by $620 million as of January 15, the most in the world in 2016, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the only Indian billionaire among the 13 Indian billionaires in the world’s richest 400. Profits from oil and gas business continued to fall on declining production from its KG D-6 block.