RIL's December quarter performance is likely to be muted
Reliance Industries is in talks with global energy majors, like British Gas of the UK, Chevron Corp of the US, Exxon and Shell for a possible stake sale in its Krishna-Godavari basin gas fields. RIL is looking for a strategic partner for its KG-D6 gas block to get deep sea exploration technology. The percentage of stake to be divested has not been firmed up & may depend on the value that the partner was bringing in. The block contains over 50trillion cubic feet of gas reserve
Tata Consultancy Services had dethroned RIL from the pole position in market-valuation charts on December 30, the last trading session of 2011, but its leadership position proved to be short-lived and it slipped to the second position in Monday's trading session -- the first of 2012.
India's trade account could come under pressure and there could be an inflation push if crude oil prices remain above the $90 per barrel (Brent) for a prolonged period since India imports over 85 per cent of its oil and roughly 50 per cent of its gas. A rebound in economic activity is bound to lead to higher fuel demand. While India is the third-largest importer of crude, it is a net exporter of refined products, which helps to compensate to some degree.
Within 24 hours of the brothers Ambani deciding on a ceasefire, the stock market and Reliance pundits are out with their calculators to figure out the financial implication of ending the non-compete terms five years in advance and the loss that Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Limited would incur post the Supreme Court verdict.
INX Media, the company set up by Indrani Mukherjea, wife of ex-Star Group CEO Peter Mukherjea, has roped in three top advertisers -- Vodafone, Reliance Industries and Future Group -- for their Hindi entertainment channel 9X. Each of these advertisers are believed to be paying Rs 35-40 crore (Rs 350-400 million) for a three-year contract. The television broadcaster has formed Club INX, which will include corporates keen to advertise on the channel.
GAIL India chairman and managing director B C Tripathi said the availability and possibility of gas has changed with the change in government policy.
Besides, in its efforts to make the employees part of its growth story, RIL disclosed having granted close to three crore stock options to over 14,000 employees, estimated to be worth about one billion dollar at the grant price and about $1.9 billion at the current share price. Its head count rose to 25,487 at the end of 2007-08, up from 12,540 employees two years ago as on March 2006.
Reliance Industries on Friday reported more than doubling of its March quarter net profit to Rs 13,227 crore as improvement in petrochemical and consumer business countered continued weakness in refining business.
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL on Tuesday said its newly acquired internet arm Infotel has paid Rs 12,847.77 crore (Rs 128.477 billion) it bid for pan-India Broadband Wireless Access spectrum.
The Delhi high court on Friday declined Future Group's plea for stay on an arbitration tribunal order refusing to interfere with the Emergency Award (EA) which restrained it from going ahead with the Rs 24,731 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait sought response from US-based e-commerce giant Amazon which had challenged the merger before the Singapore arbitration tribunal under SIAC, and listed the appeals by Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) and Future Retail Ltd (FRL) for further hearing on January 4. Senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for FRL, urged the court to pass an interim order clarifying that an earlier order passed by the Supreme Court - which stayed all proceedings in relation to the enforcement of the EA - would remain in force despite the subsequent order passed by the duly constituted arbitration tribunal.
Reliance Industries and Network 18 group on Tuesday joined hands for a multi-layered deal, under which the Mukesh Ambani-led corporate giant would sell a part of its interest in Eenadu TV channels and would also fund promoters of the media group.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, HUL, SBI, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries. NSE Nifty jumped 143.65 points to 14,485.
RIL on Monday submitted a commerciality report for the Dhirubhai-39 discovery in block KG-DWN-2003/1, about 50 km off Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, to the oil ministry and the directorate general of hydrocarbons. A company official said the well KG-V-D3-A1 flowed 38.1 million cubic feet per day of gas and the find was later named Dhirubhai-39.
RIL, which began gas production from KG-D6 fields in April last year, is currently producing 63-64 million standard cubic meters per day or 40 per cent of the nation's output.
Reliance Industries has strongly defended its decision to impose a marketing margin over-and-above the government-approved sale price for KG-D6 gas, saying the levy was to cover for the risk and cost associated with marketing of gas.
Petroleum secretary G C Chaturvedi said the arbitration notice grants a time of up to a month to respond and there was no hurry.
Reliance Industries Limited on Wednesday became the first Indian company to hit the Rs 19 lakh crore market valuation mark following a rally in its share price. The market heavyweight stock jumped 1.85 per cent to its record high of Rs 2,827.10 on the BSE. Following the gain in the share price, the company's market valuation jumped to Rs 19,12,814 crore in morning trade on the BSE.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Saturday said it plans to invest upto $14 billion in its oil exploration and production business and laying transportation pipelines.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the demerger scheme worked out with his brother Anil Ambani was categorical that the gas supplies from the KG Basin to his group was not for trading and meant for promoting power generation plant.
The government is likely to allow Reliance Industries Ltd to sell domestic cooking gas directly to bulk consumers in the country to overcome the problem of glut in LPG during lean season.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to halt the Bombay High Court's decision that allowed Mukesh Ambani-led RIL to amend its plea on a gas supply deal with NTPC at a committed price citing government policy.
However, the apex court allowed NTPC to file a reply to deny the allegations, if any, levelled by RIL in its amended written statement.
Reliance Industries has asked the government to immediately name new customers of its natural gas, saying it is being forced to produce less than capacity in the absence of mandated buyers.
RIL on April 2 shut the well A1 on the main producing fields of Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) in Krishna Godavari basin block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 for "reservoir build-up study," according to a status report of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.
Reliance Industries may make a firm bid to acquire bankrupt chemicals and fuel maker LyondellBasell Industries AF in February 2010 after $20 billion of debt owned by the troubled firm is restructured.
It will be Reliance Industries' gigantic gas find on the east coast versus the imported LNG offered by ONGC and Indian Oil Corporation in the tender for supply of gas to the 1400 MW power plant in Karnataka.
Stock markets will remain closed on Tuesday
The fertiliser and power companies say that the cost of gas would be too high, making operating on gas economically unviable.
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL said on Friday it would not be possible to supply gas to Anil Ambani group firm RNRL without the government's nod and requested the Supreme Court not to restrain it from selling gas to others.
The entry of a new developer through competitive bidding would delay the development of discoveries by at least 10 years.
Reliance Industries on Friday said it will drill three more wells in the Krishna Godavari basin bloack where the first exploratory well was abandoned owing to poor gas find.
