Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) reported a 7.38 per cent increase in net profit on Thursday for the third quarter, which beat analyst estimates.
The telecom business took the pride of place even as the retail and oil-to-chemical (O2C) segments chipped in with strong numbers.
The private sector giant posted a net profit of ₹18,540 crore (attributable to the owners of the company) compared with ₹17,265 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Analysts were expecting RIL to report net profits in the region of ₹17,800-18,337 crore.
Its profit after tax rose nearly 12 per cent to ₹21,804 crore from Rs 19,488 crore in the year-ago period.
The company’s topline also exceeded expectations: rising 7.7 per cent to ₹2.67 lakh crore against ₹2.48 lakh crore a year ago; analysts had estimated it at ₹2.35 lakh crore.
RIL’s telecom business was in the driver’s seat with tariff hikes and better subscriber mix resulting in revenues of Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) advancing to ₹29,307 crore from ₹25,368 crore in the year-ago period, a gain of 15.52 per cent.
It posted a net profit of ₹6,477 crore which marked a rise of over 24 per cent last year. The business saw its average revenue per user (ARPU) jumping to ₹203.3 per subscriber per month against ₹195.1 in the preceding three months and ₹181.7 in the last year quarter.
As a result, RIL’s digital service business or Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL) posted a 19.2 per cent rise in revenues to ₹38,750 crore (₹32,510 crore) while its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation) or operating profit gained 18.8 per cent over the previous year period to ₹16,585 crore.
The EBITDA margin, however, fell 30 basis points to 50.1 per cent.
During the quarter, JPL posted a profit after tax of ₹6,861 crore which was 26 per cent more than last year.
RIL said that the strong operating revenue growth was due to partial impact of tariff hike, and ramp up in the pace of home connections.
The festival season had a positive impact on Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) which houses its retail business. The arm posted a 7 per cent rise in revenues to ₹79,595 crore (₹74,373 crore), while EBITDA was up 9.8 per cent at ₹6,632 crore.
RRVL’s profit after tax grew 10 per cent to ₹3,458 crore from ₹3,145 crore in the year-ago period. RIL added that the strong growth was driven by several productivity improvement initiatives.
Revenues for RIL’s O2C segment, which comprises its refining and petrochemical business, rose 6 per cent to ₹149,595 crore from ₹141,096 crore last year. EBITDA inched up by 2.4 per cent to ₹14,402 crore from ₹14.065 crore.
According to RIL, the revenues increased primarily on account of higher production meant for sale compared with the same period last year which had planned maintenance and inspection shutdown of major units.
It added that the revenue growth was also supported by robust domestic demand and product placement.
Luxury brands
Reliance Retail is introducing Saks Fifth Avenue, an American luxury department store chain to the Indian market. Its “premium brands business entered into India franchise arrangement for Saks Fifth Avenue,” Reliance Industries said on Thursday. Saks Fifth Avenue operates 41 stores across North America.
Reliance’s Premium Brands business has also entered into a JV with Mothercare plc to acquire the Mothercare brand and its IP assets for the Indian subcontinent.