Jio almost triples its net profit in Q1

PARENT RIL REPORTED A PROFIT OF ₹13,248 CR, AIDED BY A STAKE SALE IN FUEL RETAIL TO BP

MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio), the telecom unit of India’s most valuable company, nearly tripled its profit in the June quarter, helping its parent offset a slump in its refining and chemicals business because of the coronavirus crisis.

Jio, which has raised more than $20 billion from Google, Facebook and 11 other investors in three months, and is leading the transformation of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) into a technology services provider, saw its net profit soar to ₹2,520 crore in the June quarter from ₹891 crore in the year earlier.

Parent RIL reported a profit of ₹13,248 crore, beating analysts’ estimates, aided by a one-time gain of ₹4,966 crore from the sale of a 49% stake in its fuel retail business to BP Plc. RIL’s revenue from operations fell to ₹1.01 lakh crore from ₹1.74 lakh crore.

A Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts expected the company to report a profit of ₹7,119 crore in the June quarter. Net sales were estimated at ₹1 lakh crore.

For Reliance Jio, June quarter revenue rose to ₹16,557 crore, led by an increase in average revenue per user (Arpu), which grew 7.5% to ₹140.3 as work from home boosted data consumption. The growth in Arpu was significantly higher than consensus estimates, which had pegged it at 3.5%.

“Jio started with a vision of connecting everything by building a robust and secure wireless and digital network and extending the benefits of digital connectivity to everyone in India,’’ Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL said in a statement on Thursday.