The company’s consolidated net profit surged 43 per cent year-on-year to Rs 13,680 crore aided by a low base whereas, consolidated revenues jumped 48 per cent on-year to Rs 1.7 lakh crore. On the operating front, too, the company posted a 30 per cent jump in operating profits.
Our O2C business benefited from a sharp recovery in demand across products and higher transportation fuel margins. Reliance Retail continues to grow on the back of rapid expansion of both physical stores and digital offerings resulting in healthy growth in revenues and margin expansion, said Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.
That said, here are the key takeaways from the conglomerate’s September quarter earnings:
Jio loses subscribers for the first time
The stellar earnings performance of RIL in the quarter was dented by the loss of telecom subscribers on a sequential basis for the first time in the company’s history. The loss of subscribers is likely to steal the limelight in a quarter when Reliance Jio’s average revenue per user grew 3.7 per cent sequentially to Rs 143.6
Overall, Jio’s strong operating show should lend investors confidence as margins expanded 10 basis points and operating profit grew 4.5 per cent on-quarter.
Footfall recovery still slow for Reliance Retail
Reliance Retail had a strong operating performance in the quarter as operating profit grew 45.2 per cent on-year while margins expanded by 180 basis points.
However, footfalls in the quarter only recovered to 78 per cent of pre-COVID levels even as Reliance Retail was able to operationalise 89 per cent of its store. The addition of 813 new stores in the quarter shows that the company is confident of growth rebounding further even as digital and e-commerce sales surged 2.4 times on-year.
“The quarter saw robust growth across all consumption baskets led by strong revival in consumer sentiments amid festivities, relaxations in Covid-related curbs and vaccinations,” RIL said.
Relying on the legacy
Where RIL seems to focus more on its new-age business, it is the company’s bread-and-butter oil-to-chemical operations that stole the show in the reported quarter.
The segment posted strong growth in sales, operating profit and margins as demand for refined products surged at home and globally, due to the reopening of the economy. On the petro-chem side, the company saw strong polymers demand even as PVC demand remained largely sluggish.
Natural gas business picking up steam
RIL has entered the oil and gas business with renewed vigour post its partnership with BP. The segment reported a surge in production and sales during the quarter as well as better price realizations due to the global rally in natural gas.
