After sliding from late-February to early-March 2007, the Reliance Industries (RIL) stock had staged a solid rebound and the pre-results rally took the stock to a record high above Rs 1600, at Rs 1624.80, on Thursday (26 April).
The pre-results’ surge was mainly due to a huge build of positions in the stock in the derivatives segment. From Rs 1313.50 on 2 April 2007, the stock had risen 21.8% to a record closing high of Rs 1599.85 on Wednesday (25 April 2007). RIL is currently trading at Rs 1550 and the BSE Sensex down 250 points.
RIL reported a lacklustre 14% growth in net profit in Q4 March 2007 at Rs 2853 crore compared to Rs 2520 crore in Q4 March 2006, on the back of strong refining margins. Net sales rose mere 5.5% to Rs 25895 crore from Rs 24542 crore.
RIL posted a net profit of 10908 crore for FY 2007, compared with a net profit of Rs 9069 crore in FY 2006. Net sales rose to Rs 105363.30 crore from Rs 81211 crore. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) rose to Rs 78.3 in FY 2007 from Rs 65.10 in FY 2006.
RIL is targeting sales of more than $24 billion by 2011 from the retail business. The company has set up 135 retail stores in 16 cities during FY-2007, the company said on Thursday.