Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has plenty on his plate at the company’s 46th annual general meeting on Monday.
Investors have a pocketful of wishlist for Ambani — that includes the unlocking of value through the listing of the telecom and retail businesses and growth plans for Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL).
They are expecting an announcement on the launch of Jio AirFiber and updates on the new energy foray.
The annual shareholders meet, which will be held in a virtual mode, comes close on the heels of JFSL getting listed on the bourses and the Qatar sovereign fund purchasing a 1 per cent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), the holding company of RIL’s organised retail business.
The two developments have only raised expectations of an announcement on the timeline for listing the retail business along with Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), which is the digital services business.
Analysts say that if some statement is made on this front, it will lead to a re-rating of RIL.
They said Ambani had announced at RIL’s AGM in 2019 that he would list the telecom and retail business in five years.
Four years have passed and an update on the listings is very much on the cards.
Bernstein in May had said that some of the investors who had put money in Jio back in 2020 may be looking at an exit as their typical holding period is usually four years.
This may lead to Reliance having to go for an IPO in the telecom business. In 2020, foreign investors had put in $20 billion for a 33 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, which was valued at around $63 billion.
On the other hand, the recent infusion by Qatar Investment Authority in RRVL valued the retail arm at Rs 8.3 trillion, almost twice the valuation in 2020 of Rs 4.21 trillion when overseas investors bought 10.09 per cent in the company.
"It will be interesting to watch if this is a longer round of stake sales by Reliance or just a one-off deal. More investors plus participation of earlier investors in this round will further validate this new valuation benchmark. Moreover, this could help in setting a soft floor on valuation of retail. Any hints on timeline of possible IPO of retail will be watched at the AGM of Reliance,’’ analysts at CLSA said in a report.
Analysts said going by the trend of previous AGMs, Ambani is likely to announce key launches and updates at Jio.
RIL may announce the commercial launch of Jio AirFiber, its fixed wireless access (FWA) offering that can provide broadband-like speeds. Ambani could also give updates on the 5G rollout and the JioBharat phone.
JioBharat was launched in July with a bid to bring on board around 25 crore subscribers who still prefer 2G feature phones.
Analysts remain divided on whether Ambani will comment on the business plans of Jio Financial Services Limited, since it is now a separate listed entity. ``We don’t expect any update on JFSL as now it is a separately listed company and not a part of RIL,’’ analysts at BofA Securities said in a recent note.
Investors are also following the new energy business. In 2021, RIL had announced an investment of Rs 75,000 crore and is now ready to double the green bet to Rs 1.5 trillion.
An analyst said Ambani may give details on the investments. He could also give an update on the Giga factories at Jamnagar that will manufacture and fully integrate all the critical components of the new energy ecosystem.
