Reliance reported a net profit of Rs 60,705 crore on revenue of Rs 7.92 lakh crore ($102 billion).
New Delhi:
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 22.5 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended March on the back of bumper oil refining margins, steady growth in telecom and digital services and strong momentum in retail business.
Oil-to-retail-to-telecom group’s consolidated net profit increased to Rs 16,203 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, the firm said in a statement.
However, net profit fell 12.6 per cent sequentially, breaking a six-quarter series of quarter-on-quarter corrections.
Reliance’s earnings growth was also driven by growth in broadband subscribers, growth in online retail sales, and growing new energy investments.
The country’s largest company’s consolidated revenue by market value grew 35 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.32 lakh crore in the fourth quarter of FY22.
For the full financial year 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022), Reliance reported a net profit of Rs 60,705 crore on revenue of Rs 7.92 lakh crore (USD 102 billion).
It is the first Indian company to cross US$ 100 billion in revenue in a single year.
The firm reported highest quarterly EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of Rs 33,968 crore, a growth of 28 per cent year-on-year.
O2C (oil-to-chemical) business EBITDA grew by 25 per cent to Rs 14,241 crore, while the pre-tax income of digital services at Rs 11,209 crore was up 25 per cent over the previous year.
Retail EBITDA grew 2.5 per cent to Rs 3,712 crore and gas production from satellite fields in the KG-D6 block tripled oil and gas EBITDA to Rs 1,556 crore.
The consumer business now accounts for about 45 percent of the EBITDA segment.
The Russian-Ukraine conflict intensified an already tight demand-supply situation for crude oil-petroleum products, leading to higher cracks or margins on petrol and diesel.
Despite a decrease in the subscriber base in the last two quarters on account of inactive subscribers/SIM consolidation, better per-user revenue (ARPU) and an increase in Jio’s net profit from loan refinancing – the telecom and digital arm – about January-March 24 per cent to Rs 4,173 crore.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2022, Reliance Jio’s consolidated net profit jumped nearly 23 per cent to Rs 14,854 crore.
Retail continued to grow strongly on the back of multiple bolt-on acquisitions, continued investments in building complementary offline-to-online infra and recovery in momentum post COVID.
The firm has invested over USD 1 billion in acquisition of assets and manufacturing capabilities of Reliance Retail and has opened more stores in Tier-II and III cities.
The green energy-related moves at giga factories and after a sluggish upstream segment of 4-5 years provide a recipe for strong growth in the next 24-36 months.
The performance of the oil-to-chemical business was dampened by weakness in the petrochemical division’s margins due to higher crude oil prices as well as declining international margins for key products.
But the company, which declared itself net debt-free during the pandemic, saw its borrowings exceed cash in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal. Refinance liabilities for telecom spectrum saw gross debt of Rs 2,66,305 crore exceeding the cash balance of Rs 2,31,490 crore.
Reliance operates four business verticals – its O2C business includes its oil refineries, petrochemical plants and fuel retail business; a retail business with brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce; digital services covering telecom arm Jio; and the new energy business.
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd’s EBITDA rose 2.4 per cent to Rs 3,705 crore as demand improved across categories. Net profit from retail business declined 4.8 per cent to Rs 2,139 crore in the quarter.
It opened 793 new stores during the quarter, taking the total number to 15,196.
O2C segment operating profit grew sequentially for the seventh consecutive quarter, driven by improvement in refining margins and prices.
Jio Platforms – the digital arm – posted 23 per cent higher net profit at Rs 4,313 crore as the telecom segment’s average revenue per user (ARPU) grew by 21.3 per cent to Rs 167.6 per month.
Its subscriber base stood at 410 million, down from 42.1 million in the previous quarter, primarily driven by SIM consolidation.
Commenting on the results, Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited said: “Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and heightened geopolitical uncertainties, Reliance has delivered a strong performance in FY 2021-22 ” While the digital services and retail sectors showed strong growth, the O2C business has proven its resilience and demonstrated a strong recovery despite volatility in energy markets.
“Our relentless focus on customer satisfaction and service has driven higher engagement and increased people engagement, driving strong revenue and earnings figures across our consumer businesses.
“The gradual opening up of economies, along with continued high utilization rates across sites and improvement in transportation fuel margins and volumes, have driven our O2C earnings up,” Mr Ambani said.
During the year, Reliance created significant jobs, with over 2.1 lakh new employees joining the businesses.
“Our retail business has crossed the 15,000 store benchmark,” he said. “JioFiber is now the largest broadband provider in India within two years of launch. The oil and gas business is now contributing 20 per cent of the domestic gas production.” On the new energy business, he said the company is moving ahead with the development of a 5,000-acre Giga factories complex in Jamnagar and is on track to achieve the target of net carbon zero by 2035.
For the full financial year, the consumer business gross revenue stood at around Rs 3 lakh crore, while the consumer business EBITDA crossed Rs 50,000 crore. Retail EBITA stood at over Rs 12,000 crore on revenues of around Rs 2 lakh crore. Digital services EBITDA was Rs 40,000 crore on revenue of Rs 1 lakh crore.
The O2C business contributed 52 per cent to the incremental EBITDA in FY22. O2C EBITDA at Rs 52,722 crore was up 38 per cent year-on-year and was near pre-COVID levels.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)