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
nMUMBAI: 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.
nNEWDELHI: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met financial sector regulators and discussed their preparedness to deal with the post-covid-19 world and further measures that the government can take to boost economic recovery while maintaining financial stability in the system.
The meeting was attended by chiefs of the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, defence minister Rajnath Singh and road, transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari were also present.
“The meeting took stock of the pre-covid-19 and post-covid-19 world and the challenges the regulators may face in coming days,” a government official said under condition of anonymity.
A second official said issues related to China were also discussed. India has taken a host of measures to curb dependence on China after a violent border clash left 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops dead.