Reliance Industries on Friday reported a 16 percent jump in the March quarter net profit to a record quarterly earning of Rs 7,398 crore on the back of higher refining and petrochem margins. [caption id=“attachment_2744622” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Alok Agarwal, CFO, RIL[/caption] The company earned $10.8 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel compared with a gross refining margin of $10.1 in the fourth quarter of 2014-15. Refining margin outperformed Singapore benchmark by $3.1 per barrel. The company said it posted a record quarterly consolidated PBDIT (profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes) of Rs 13,994 crore, up 16.9 percent. The retail business achieved sales of Rs 5,781 crore during the quarter, up 21 percent on year, with EBIT of Rs 131 crore up 26 percent. RIL’s Chief Financial Officer ALok Agarwal attributed the good performance of the company to the increase in oil demand, adding that the revenue reflected lower commodity prices. In India, diesel demand was up 7.5 percent and gasoline up 14 per cent on year. Aggarwal said the refining business was bolstered by margin expansion. Among the individual products, gasoline was the star performer he said. However, oversupply in the market resulted in softer margin for diesel at $12 vs $15 last year. Refining throughtput stood at 69.6 mn tonnes in fiscal year 2016, which is a record, Aggarwal said. Similarly, the capacity utilisation recorded at 112 percent, was a global record, he said. With PTI (Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited.)