MUMBAI: Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, reported a 25% fall in quarterly profit to Rs 23,196 crore on Friday, beating analysts’ average estimate of Rs 18,550 crore. The decline was mainly due to a one-off gain of Rs 8,924 crore from a stake sale in Asian Paints in the year-earlier quarter.Revenue rose 25% to Rs 3.1 lakh crore, lifted by strong performances at its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) and Jio digital services businesses. Ebitda climbed 10% to Rs 51,403 crore as expenses rose faster, up 27% to Rs 2.9 lakh crore.“Reliance has made a steady start to FY27, with all businesses delivering strong operating performance despite continuing geopolitical tensions and volatile commodity markets. This makes me optimistic about the year ahead as we advance our new energy projects and the Jio IPO,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director.Ebitda at the O2C division, which accounted for 33% of total operating profit, rose 17% year-on-year to Rs 17,010 crore. Stronger transportation fuel and downstream margins, higher crude sourcing from Russia and Latin America, and lower-cost ethane feedstock drove the gain. Higher crude, freight and insurance costs weighed on margins, as did losses from holding domestic fuel prices steady and the reintroduction of the special additional excise duty on diesel, petrol and aviation fuel.
Jio posted a 16% rise in ebitda to Rs 21,255 crore on strong revenue growth and a 150 basis point margin expansion. Average revenue per user rose 3% to Rs 216, helped by a better subscriber mix and seasonal gains, partly offset by broadband promotions. Jio, launched in 2016, had 533 million customers as of June 30 – the world’s second-largest telecom operator by subscribers. Data traffic grew 27%, voice traffic 2%.Retail ebitda was broadly flat at Rs 6,309 crore, down 1% on higher digital commerce contribution and infrastructure costs, even as revenue grew 8%. Oil and gas ebitda held steady at Rs 4,973 crore.Ebitda from smaller businesses, including media and consumer products, fell 28% to Rs 1,856 crore.With regard to entertainment platform JioStar, ebitda rose 31% to Rs 933 crore, as strong revenue growth improved cost efficiency. Reliance did not disclose ebitda for Reliance Consumer Products, but said the unit’s revenue rose 2% to Rs 8,600 crore.Reliance’s cash balance of Rs 2.46 lakh crore comfortably covered net debt of Rs 1.22 lakh crore. As of June 30, Reliance had Rs 27,389 crore in non-convertible debentures. Of this amount, Rs 20,000 crore was backed by security over some of the company’s movable assets. Capital expenditure totalled Rs 38,682 crore, funding in part its green energy build-out and consumer business expansion.
