Elephants can dance, going by Reliance Industries’ (RIL) performance in FY16. After five years, the country’s largest private sector company by revenue has reported double-digit growth in earnings. RIL, battling headwinds in most of its businesses, has exited FY16 with 17.2 per cent growth in earnings from the previous year.
The earnings trajectory has been driven by strong growth in both the refining and petrochemical businesses. At $10.8/barrel, RIL’s gross refining margin (GRM) has hit a seven-year high and throughput has touched a record 69.6 million tonnes (mt).