Reliance Industries Ltd, India's second most valuable company, posted a fourth quarter net profit of Rs 1,101 crore (Rs 11.01 billion). This shows a 41 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, boosted by higher petrochemical prices and firmer refining margins.

The chemicals to telecom group's gross sales gross sales for the fourth quarter were up 32 per cent at Rs 17,679 crore.

The results were slightly lower than expected, with a Reuters poll of 10 analysts expecting a net profit of Rs 11.37 billion for the quarter.

Analysts had estimated comparable net profit for the March quarter of 2002 of Rs 8.34 billion on a net turnover of Rs 99.93 billion, accounting for the merger of Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum in September 2002.

Reliance's petrochemical business has benefitted from stronger global prices and robust domestic demand as industrial growth remained strong in the world's 12th-largest economy.

Reliance shares have fallen around seven per cent this year, but have outperformed the Sensex by around 6 per cent.

For the fiscal year 2002-03, the company recorded a 45 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 4,104 crore (Rs 41.04 billion). Gross sales for the year rose 14 per cent to Rs 65,061 crore (Rs 650.61 billion).