Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd announced the financial results for the October to December quarter of FY24 on Friday. During the quarter under review, the consolidated profit after tax of the country's largest company by market capitalisation, witnessed a growth of 9% year-on-year to ₹17,625 crore. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate witnessed growth in its profit in spite of higher finance, depreciation and tax costs.
During the quarter under review, the company’s revenue from operations rose by 3.2%, witnessing a growth of ₹2,48,160 crore, as against ₹2,40,532 crore in the same period last year, supported by continued growth momentum in consumer business.
In the December quarter, the company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) surged by 16.7% year-on-year to ₹44,678 crore, as against ₹38,286 crore in the same period last year.
The company’s capital expenditure for the December quarter stood at ₹30,102 crore with investments in pan-India 5G roll-out, expansion of retail infrastructure and new energy business. The company’s net debt in the December quarter stood at ₹1,19,372 crore, which was approximately 67% of the annualised EBITDA.
“Reliance has delivered yet another quarter of robust operating and financial performance, thanks to the exceptional efforts put in by teams across its businesses,” says Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited.
Meanwhile, across segments, the company’s telecom subsidiary Jio Platforms, witnessed a gross revenue growth of 11% YoY at ₹32,510 crore, led by robust subscriber growth across mobility and homes, benefit of mix improvement in ARPU. The EBITDA of Jio Platforms witnessed a growth of 11.5% year-on-year to ₹13,955 crore owing to higher revenue and increase in margins. Jio Platforms net profit in the December quarter was up 11.6% YoY to ₹5,445 crore. During the quarter, total data and voice traffic increased 31.5% to 38.1 billion GB, and 7.9% Y-o-Y to 1.37 trillion minutes, respectively. Jio added 11.2 million subscribers in Q3 of FY24 taking the total subscriber base to 470.9 million.
Jio’s ARPU increased 2.0% YoY to ₹181.7 with a better subscriber mix partially offset by unlimited data allowance on the 5G network. “Jio has accomplished the fastest rollout of 5G technology witnessed anywhere in the world and is now available across India. JioAirFiber has seen strong initial demand and customer engagement, especially in underserved tier 3/4 towns and rural areas. Jio’s ahead-of-the-curve investments on the next-generation network, digital technologies and tailor-made products for all customer cohorts will ensure sustainable industry-leading growth in coming years,” says Akash Ambani, chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Notably, the net profit of the company’s retail business, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, increased by 31.9% year-on-year to ₹3,165 crore. The company’s revenue witnessed a growth of 22.8% YoY to ₹83,063 crore led by grocery, fashion & lifestyle and consumer electronics businesses. The segment's EBITDA was up 50 basis points at 8.4% driven by operating leverage and continued focus on cost management. During the quarter, Reliance Retail added 252 new stores to its network, thus taking the total store count to 18,774 crore. Reliance Retail recorded footfalls of over 282 million across formats, a growth of 40.3% Y-o-Y. The digital commerce and new commerce businesses continued to grow and contributed to 19% of revenue.
“Reliance Retail has delivered steady performance during the festive quarter. Our business success is intricately woven into the larger fabric of India's economic growth, and together, we are shaping a compelling story of innovation and world-class possibilities for the future. We remain resolute in our commitment to bring high quality products at great value to our customers with an engaging shopping experience,” says Isha Ambani, executive director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited.
In the oil and gas segment, the company’s revenue jumped 50.2% to ₹6,719 crore mainly on account of higher volumes partly offset by lower price realisation from KG D6 Field. The segment’s EBITDA rose to a record high ₹5,804 crore, up 49.6% Y-o-Y. According to Mukesh Ambani, Block KG D6 is currently contributing 30% of the country’s gas production. The KG D6 currently produces approximately 30MMSCMD gas and approximately 21,000 Bbl of oil/condensate, as per the company.
The conglomerate’s 02C segment, however, witnessed a fall in revenue by 2.4% YoY to ₹1,41,096 crore primarily on account of lower price realisation.
