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Informist, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024

 

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--Jul-Sept consol net profit INR 165.63 bln
--Analysts saw RIL Jul-Sept consol net profit INR 156.94 bln
--Jul-Sept consol revenue INR 2.355 tln
--Jul-Sept consol net profit INR 165.63 bln vs INR 173.94 bln
--Jul-Sept consol revenue INR 2.355 tln vs INR 2.350 tln year ago
--Apr-Sept consol net profit INR 317.01 bln vs INR 334.05 bln
--Apr-Sept consol revenue INR 4.717 tln vs INR 4.458 tln year ago
--Jul-Sept digital services sales INR 380.55 bln rupee vs INR 326.57 bln
--Jul-Sept oil and gas sales INR 62.22 bln vs INR 66.20 bln year ago
--Jul-Sept digital svcs EBITDA INR 161.39 bln rupees vs INR 140.55 bln
--Jul-Sept oil-to-chemicals sales INR 1.56 trln vs INR 1.48 trln
--Jul-Sept oil-to-chemicals EBITDA INR 124.13 bln rupees vs INR 162.77 bln
--Jul-Sept oil and gas EBITDA INR 52.90 bln vs INR 47.66 bln year ago
--Jul-Sept retail sales INR 763.25 bln vs INR 771.63 bln
--Jul-Sept retail EBITDA INR 58.61 bln rupees vs INR 58.41 bln
--Jio Platforms Jul-Sept ARPU INR 195.1, up 7.4% on year
--Jul-Sept consol EBITDA INR 439.34 bln, down 2% on year
--Jio Platforms Jul-Sept ARPU INR 195.1 vs INR 181.7 qtr ago
--Jul-Sept consol EBITDA margin 17.0% vs 17.5% year ago
--Jio Platforms Jul-Sept revenue INR 371.19 bln, up 17.7% on year
--Jio Platforms Jul-Sept sales INR 371.19 bln vs INR 345.48 bln qtr ago
--Jul-Sept capex INR 340.22 bln vs INR 388.15 bln year ago
--Jul-Sept oil-to-chemicals EBITDA margin 8%, down 300 bps on yr
--Jio Platforms Jul-Sept EBITDA margin 50.2% vs 49.7% qtr ago
--Jio Platforms customer base 478.8 mln on Sep 30 vs 489.7 mln qtr ago
--Jul-Sept oil-to-chemicals ops total throughput 20.2 mln tn, up 1% YoY
--Jul-Sept oil-to-chemicals total output for sale 17.7 mln tn, up 3.5%
--Jio Platforms Jul-Sept EBITDA INR 159.3 bln vs INR 146.38 bln qtr ago
--Consol cash, cash equivalents as on Sept 30 at INR 2.20 tln
--Operating revenue growth led by partial impact of tariff hike
--Operating revenue growth led by scale-up of home, digital svcs ops
--Strong EBITDA growth led by healthy revenue growth
--Oil-to-chemicals EBITDA down on unfavourable demand-supply balance
--Increased revenue, operating leverage led to healthy net profit growth
--Jul-Sept oil and gas EBITDA margin 85.0% vs 72.0% year ago
--Full impact of tariff hike will flow through in next 2-3 quarters
--Jul-Sept Reliance Retail sales INR 665.02 bln rupees vs INR 689.37 bln
--Jul-Sept Reliance Retail EBITDA INR 58.50 bln rupees vs INR 58.30 bln
--Jul-Sept Reliance Retail EBITDA margin 8.8%, up 30 bps on year
--Reliance Retail store count 18,946 as on Sep 30, up 1.6% on year
--Reliance Retail store footfalls 297 mln in Jul-Sept, up 14.2% on yr
--Reliance Retail opened 464 new stores in Jul-Sept
--Digital commerce accounted for 17% of Reliance Retail Jul-Sept sales
--Jul-Sept KGD6 production 69.3 billions of cubic feet equivalent
--Jul-Sept KGD6 gas avg price realised $9.55/mBtu vs $10.46/mBtu yr ago
 

 

MUMBAI – Reliance Industries Ltd. reported a year-on-year decline in its consolidated net profit for the third straight quarter, with the metric falling nearly 5% in the September quarter. As expected by analysts, the company's largest business of oil-to-chemicals dragged its net profit down with the segment reporting lower product margins.

 

The conglomerate's consolidated net profit declined to INR 165.63 billion, but managed to perform better than analysts' estimates of INR 156.94 billion. While the oil-to-chemicals segment was a drag, growth in its digital services, which houses the Reliance Jio operations, and oil and gas businesses helped beat analysts' estimates.

The company's consolidated revenue rose a mere 0.2% on year and did not see a material rise in the September quarter for the second straight financial year. The marginal rise meant its revenue growth slowed down significantly from 11-12% year-on-year rise seen in the last two quarters. The revenue during the quarter came in at INR 2.36 trillion, largely in line with analysts' estimates. The slight rise in revenue was contributed by the oil-to-chemicals and digital services businesses, while sales in the exploration, retail, and other businesses declined.

 

The company's consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation declined 2% on year to INR 439.34 billion owing to weakness in the oil-to-chemicals business, which was the only vertical that saw a decline in operating profit. However, the consolidated figure was better than analysts had estimated, thanks to strong growth in the Jio business with the company raising tariffs at the end of the previous quarter. Analysts had expected a fall of nearly 12% on year in the consolidated EBITDA.

 

OIL-TO-CHEMICALS SEGMENT

Revenue from this vertical grew 5% on year to INR 1.56 trln during the quarter, primarily on account of higher volumes and increased domestic placement of products, the company said. However, the company's EBITDA fell 23.7% on year to INR 124.13 billion and its EBITDA margin fell to 8% in Jul-Sept from 11% a year ago.

 

"Unfavourable demand-supply balance led to sharp (around) 50?cline in transportation fuel cracks and continued weakness in downstream chemical deltas," the company said in a press release, explaining the fall in EBITDA.

 

Brent crude oil prices averaged $80.2 a barrel in the September quarter, down $6.6 a barrel from the same quarter in 2023. "Crude oil benchmarks fell YoY due to lower-than-expected demand growth, especially in China. Increasing supplies from non-OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) players pushed prices lower even though OPEC and allied countries extended voluntary production cuts," the company said.

 

In Jul-Sept, global oil demand rose by only 0.8 million barrels per day, compared with 2.5 million barrels per day in the corresponding period last year. Demand for gasoline, or petrol, grew 0.35 million barrels per day, while that for jet fuel grew 0.30 million barrels per day. Demand for diesel was flat.

 

The release further said domestic demand for high speed diesel, motor spirit, and aviation turbine fuel rose by 0.1%, 7.3%, and 9.4%, respectively, in Jul-Sept over the same quarter last year. In a post-earnings conference call for the previous quarter, Reliance had said firm domestic demand for fuel and petroleum products was likely to aid its oil-to-chemicals business in the September quarter.

 

The company said its total crude oil throughput rose slightly by 1% to 20.2 million tonnes in the September quarter. Total throughput was up 2% on a sequential basis. Production meant for sale was 17.7 million tonnes during Jul-Sept, which was 3.5% higher than 17.1 million tonnes in the same quarter last year.

 

As for polymers, the company said its margins were lower on year as prices of naphtha and ethylene dichloride, or EDC, were firm while demand was muted. Domestic demand for polymers in Jul-Sept was down 5% on year. Demand for polyethelene was down 12%, mainly due to the high base effect as the September quarter last year had witnessed higher imports due to multiyear low prices, the company said.

 

RETAIL SEGMENT

Reliance Retail Ventures reported a hit to its earnings growth on weak demand for its fashion and lifestyle products. The Jul-Sept revenue from operations of the retail subsidiary of Reliance Industries was INR 665 billion, down 3.5% on year. The digital and new commerce business contributed 17% of the retail arm's total revenue.

 

The revenue, operating profit, and net profit figures for the segment showed initial signs of a slowdown. The decline in revenue from the segment was in sharp contrast to the 6.6% growth recorded in the previous quarter and the 9.8% rise in the March quarter. The segment's EBITDA was up only 0.3% on year at INR 58.50 billion, its worst growth in at least three quarters.

 

Reliance Retail net added 28 stores during the September quarter, taking the total number of stores to 18,946 as of Sept. 30. The 28-store addition in Jul-Sept was the lowest in at least six quarters, the data showed. Reliance Retail's store footfalls were up marginally by 0.3% on quarter at 297 million. However, footfalls rose 14% compared to the same period in the previous year.

 

Sequentially, the number of transactions across Reliance Retail stores was up 2.7%, much lower than the 7.4% rise seen in the previous quarter, but better than the 2.8?cline in the March quarter. On an annual basis, the September quarter transactions were up 8.9%.

 

OIL AND GAS

Revenue from the company's oil and gas segment fell to INR 62.22 billion in Jul-Sept, down 6% from the year-ago period on lower price realisation which was only partly offset by an increase in gas volumes from KG-D6 and the coal bed methane fields, the company said. The EBITDA from the oil and gas business rose to INR 52.90 billion in Jul-Sept, up 11% on year because of sustained volume growth and the low base of last year, when the company made one-time provisioning towards the decommissioning cost of the Tapti field.

 

In Jul-Sept, the average price realisation for KG-D6 gas fell to $9.55 per million British thermal units from $10.46 per mBtu a year ago. For coal bed methane gas, the average realisation was down to $11.4 per mBtu during the quarter from $13.72 per mBtu a year ago.

 

The company produced 28.5 million standard cubic metres per day of KG-D6 gas on average and 20,832 barrels per day of oil or condensate in Jul-Sept. For coal bed methane, the company said the current rate of production was 800,000 standard cubic metres per day.

 

JIO PLATFORMS

As expected by analysts, revenue growth from Jio Platforms was the highest among all the verticals on the back of the tariff hikes of 12-27% the company had announced at the end of the previous quarter. Driven by the tariff hikes, the average revenue per user of Jio Platforms rose to INR 195.1 after having remained unchanged at INR 181.7 for four quarters in a row. The company expects the full impact of the tariff hike to be visible in the next two or three quarters.

 

With higher revenue from each user, the segment's EBITDA in Jul-Sept rose nearly 18% on year and 9% on quarter to INR 159.31 billion. "Operating revenue (net of goods and services tax) growth was primarily driven by partial impact of tariff hike and scale-up of home and digital services businesses," Reliance Industries said in the press release.

 

The customer base of Jio Platforms was at 478.8 mln as of Sept 30, slightly lower than 489.7 mln a quarter ago. Further, engagement was strong with data and voice traffic witnessing growth annually.

 

On Monday, shares of Reliance Industries closed flat at INR 2,745.05 on the National Stock Exchange after moving in a thin range throughout the day's trading session. The company detailed its quarterly results after market hours.  End

 

US$1 = INR 84.06

 

Reported by Anshul Choudhary, Sunil Raghu, Rajesh Gajra, and Aman Aryan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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