News: Reliance in milestone march

(TT 21/02/2007) Mumbai - Reliance Industries Ltd’s market capitalisation today breached the Rs 2-lakh-crore-mark on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). RIL is the third company after the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Wipro to cross this milestone.

RIL continues to be the leader in terms of market capitalisation on the BSE, reflecting the confidence of investors since its demerger last year. Its market capitalisation today stood at Rs 197,118.68 crore.

RIL is followed by ONGC with a market capitalisation of Rs 187,279.61 crore. Bharti Airtel is next with Rs 150,032.07 crore.

Other companies with large market capitalisation include Infosys (Rs 1.31 lakh crore), Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 1.27 lakh crore), National Thermal Power Corporation, Wipro and Reliance Communications (R-Com).

The market capitalisation of Wipro and R-Com are, however, less than Rs 1 lakh crore at present. Wipro breached the Rs 2-lakh-crore-mark during the IT boom of 2000.

The RIL scrip today closed at Rs 1,414.55 on the BSE. The scrip, however, hit an intra-day high of Rs 1,444.80, which is also its 52-week high. It was at this point that RIL’s market capitalisation crossed the Rs 2-lakh-crore-mark.

Market circles said the RIL share continued to see sustained investor interest after it declared better-than-expected numbers for the third quarter ended December 31, 2006.

RIL had posted a 58 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 2,799 crore compared with Rs 1,776 crore in the year-ago period because of a sharp jump in its gross refining margins.

The markets are also optimistic about its plans in organised retail and the output from its KG basins, they added.

Interest in the counter also strengthened with Chevron chief executive officer David ’Reilly arriving in the country on a four-day visit.

Speculation is rife that during his visit, the global oil giant may strengthen its ties with RIL. Unconfirmed reports say that both Chevron and RIL could collaborate in oil exploration.