RIL’s net profit more than doubles in Q4
MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) more than doubled its March quarter consolidated net profit from a year ago to ₹14,995 crore, even as revenue rose a more sedate 14% to ₹1.72 lakh crore. For 2020-21, consolidated net profit came in at ₹53,739 crore, up 35% from ₹39,880 crore a year ago, while consolidated revenue fell from ₹659,997 crore to ₹539,238 crore.
The decrease in revenue from a year earlier was primarily due to lower volumes and realisation across key products in the oil-tochemicals, or O2C, segment. The retail segment also reported lower revenue due to the pandemic. This, however, was partially offset by higher revenue from the digital services segment on account of continued subscriber traction and higher Arpu (average revenue per user), the company said.
“We have registered robust recovery in O2C and retail segment, and resilient growth in digital services business. Sustained high utilisation rates across sites and improvement in downstream product deltas, as well as transportation fuel margins, aided O2C earnings growth,” Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL, said in a note.
Ambani said RIL’s consumer businesses have proved to be a digital and physical lifeline for the nation in these challenging times. Jio’s high-speed connectivity services enabled millions of Indians to work from home, study from home and even receive healthcare from home.
“Reliance Retail ensured safe supplies of essential goods and services to customer homes. And while covid has disrupted livelihoods, we have added nearly 75,000 jobs to the economy while ensuring the health and safety of our employees and their families,” Ambani said.
RIL’s operating profit, however, decreased by 4.6% to ₹97,580 crore from ₹1.02 lakh crore in the previous year, primarily due to lower contribution from O2C businesses, which was impacted by pandemic-related demand destruction in the first half of last fiscal, RIL said.
RIL shares rose 1.42% to ₹1,994.45 on BSE, ahead of its earnings announcement.
The company has announced a dividend of ₹7 per share.
Cash and cash equivalents as of March 31 stood at ₹2.54 lakh crore, higher than the outstanding debt of ₹2.52 lakh crore, the company said.
Jio Platforms Ltd, meanwhile, reported a 47% jump in consolidated net profit at ₹3,508 crore in the March quarter from ₹2,379 crore a year ago. Jio’s consolidated revenue was at ₹18,278 crore, up 18.9% from ₹15,373 crore last year.
“Jio has a highly engaged 426 million customer base and remains committed to enhancing digital experiences not only for our existing customers but for all individuals, households, and enterprises across the country. With its path-defining partnerships over the last couple of years, Jio will continue to strive towards making India a premier digital society,” Ambani said.
Arpu for the fourth quarter came in at ₹138.2, with the sequential decline driven by the transition from interconnect usage charges (IUC) and fewer days during the quarter, it said.
Arpu is the total revenue of the operator divided by the number of users or connections on its network. Jio had clocked an Arpu of ₹151 during October-December, up from ₹145 a quarter ago. Jio added 37.9 million customers, taking the total customer base to 426.2 million as of March 31.
On the retail front, it recorded a consolidated gross revenue of ₹1.58 lakh crore in Q4 FY21.