The promoter holding in the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd has dipped by over two per cent in the fiscal year ended 31 March, while the stake held by retail shareholders has increased.

According to share information released to the bourses, the promoter holding in RIL dropped to 49.03 per cent at the end of the March quarter from 51.37 per cent in the same quarter last year.

The public shareholding in RIL, including shares held by subsidiary companies, amounted to 74.82 crore shares, representing a 47.54 per cent stake in the firm, during the quarter and year ended 31 March. In the same period of fiscal 2008, the retail shareholders 65.30 crore shares, amounting to a 44.92 per cent stake in the company.

Reliance Industries said in a statement on Thursday that its outstanding debt had increased at the end of the last fiscal. The outstanding debt as on 31 March 2009 was Rs53,457 crore ($10.5 billion) compared to Rs36,480 crore as compared to a year earlier, RIL said in Mumbai. It added that the company had cash and cash equivalent of nearly Rs25,000 crore.

Further, the company has cash and cash equivalents of nearly Rs 25,000 crore, which are

RIL's net debt is equivalent to 1.1 times its profit before depreciation, interest and tax (PBDIT) for the year. The company's PBDIT has risen 5.1 per cent to Rs 25,428 crore in the financial year 2008-09.

 Overall, RIL has posted a 21.5 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 15,279 crore in 2008-09 compared to Rs 19,458 crore in the previous fiscal. The company's total turnover has increased 8.3 per cent to Rs150,771 crore in FY'09 against Rs1,39,269 crore a year ago.

Reliance Industries posted a marginal decline in its fourth-quarter net profit as lower oil prices weighed heavily on its sales.  Its net profit before exceptional items for the last quarter declined marginally to Rs3874 crore from Rs3912 crore a year earlier.

However, its revenue for the quarter fell sharply by 24 per cent to Rs28,362 crore, as compared to Rs37,286 crore a year earlier.

RIL's net profit was boosted by a big jump in its other income to Rs993 crore, from Rs289 crore a year earlier. For the quarter, its petrochem revenues were down down 31 per cent to Rs9,724 crore while refining revenues fell 24 per cent to Rs21,631 crore.