Reliance Jio profit grows to Rs681 cr in Q2
MUMBAI: Reliance Industries reported its highest ever quarterly net profit at Rs9,516 crore for the three-month period ending September 30, 2018, representing a 17.35 per cent growth over the same period last year.
During the same period, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate posted a 54.5 per cent rise in revenues to Rs1,56,291 crore.
The company posted record quarterly (earnings before interest and tax) EBIT for petrochemicals, retail and digital services businesses, according to a statement issued by the company.
The telecom arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Jio, reported standalone revenues of Rs10,942 crore, up 51.7 per cent year-on-year. Reliance Jio has also netted a profit of Rs681 crore for the second quarter, up from Rs612 crore the company generated for the June quarter.
The operator of world’s largest oil refining complex saw pre-tax earnings from the business decline for the second quarter in a row. It fell 19.6 per cent to Rs5,322 crore as margins dipped. In the first quarter, the pre-tax earnings had fallen 16.8 per cent. The gross refining margin for the second quarter came in at $9.50 per barrel against $12 per barrel in the same period last year.
This it attributed to significantly higher crude price (up 47 per cent over last year) and tight product cracks.
Commenting on the Q2 results, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani (seen in the picture) said, “Our company delivered robust operating and financial results for the quarter despite macro headwinds, with strong growth in earnings on Y-o-Y basis. Our integrated refining and petrochemicals business generated strong cash flows in a period of heightened volatility in commodity and currency markets.”
He also said the financial performance of both Retail and Jio reflect the benefits of scale, technology and operational efficiencies. “Retail business (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) EBITDA has grown three-fold on Y-o-Y basis whereas Reliance Jio EBITDA has grown nearly 2.5 times. Jio has now crossed 250 million subscriber milestone and continues to be the largest mobile data carrier in the world,” Ambani said further.
The company with the largest market capitalization (as of October 17, 2018) said it will acquire 66 per cent stake in Den Networks for Rs2,290 crore and 51.3 per cent in Hathway Cable for Rs2,940 crore. The move is likely to speed up the roll-out of Jio GigaFiber by bringing under its fold 27,000 local cable operators who would help strengthen its fibre-based broadband service to households for offering ultra high-definition entertainment on large screen TVs.
“RIL will make a “primary investment of Rs2,045 crore through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations and secondary purchase of Rs245 crore from the existing promoters for a 66 per cent stake in DEN”, the company said in a statement. Also, it will make a primary investment of Rs2,940 crore through a preferential issue for a 51.3 per cent stake in Hathway.
RIL would also make open offers to minority shareholders of GTPL Hathway Ltd, a company jointly controlled by Hathway with 37.3 per cent stake, and Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacomm Ltd, a subsidiary of Hathway.
Net subscriber addition for Jio was 37 million in July-September, as against 28.7 million in the previous quarter. The Average Revenue per User (ARPU), however, declined to Rs131.7 per subscriber per month from Rs134.5 in April-June.
Reliance said its outstanding debt rose to Rs2,58,701 crore as on September 30 as compared with Rs2,42,116 crore on June 30 and Rs2,18,763 crore on March 31.
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