Ril breaches Rs 2000, mkt cap nears Rs 3 lakh crore

Reliance Industries breached the Rs 2000 mark for the first time in today’s session. The company saw its market capitalization at over Rs 2.76 lakh crores nearing the 3 lakh crore mark. Exactly an year back its market capitalisation stood at Rs 151565.12 crore lagging behind ONGC which was the topper with a market cap of 167817.7 crore. But in a year’s time reliance has raced ahead of ONGC by adding over whopping Rs 1.25 lakh crore to the market cap. While, ONGC’s market cap as on day stands at over Rs 1.77 crore.

The company has been in news and has made some big announcements recently. The company plans Rs 25,000 crore healthcare initiative over 7-8 years. According to sources healthcare initiatives will integrate with Reliance's retail foray. The company plans to set up around 1500 healthcare units in B and C class mandi towns.

Earlier, the company signed agreement with the receivers of Hualon, a Malaysian polyester producer, to acquire its assets. The acquisition will boost RIL’s capacity by 25%. The company estimates it will boost revenue by around USD 1 billion. According to analyst Reliance gains from the takeover on the following grounds:

• Entry into the Malaysian market and better access to western markets.
• Access to markets for its petrochemical products (PET / MEG) and positioning further down in the textile value chain.
• Consolidation and increased market share – RIL becomes world’s largest polyester fibre and yarn manufacturer with 2.5 mn tonnes capacity and >7% market share globally.
• Ability to turnaround the acquired entity using RIL’s balance sheet size.

Brokers continue to be bullish on the stocks and Merril Lynch has retained a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 2118.