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Informist, Friday, Apr. 25, 2025

 

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--RIL Jan-Mar consol net profit INR 194.07 vs INR 189.51 bln yr ago
--Analysts saw RIL Jan-Mar consol net profit INR 183.57 bln
--RIL Jan-Mar consol revenue INR 2.646 tln vs INR 2.407 tln year ago
--RIL to pay INR 5.50 per share dividend for FY25
--RIL board OKs raising up to INR 250 bln via NCDs 
--RIL FY25 consol net profit INR 696.48 bln vs INR 696.21 bln year ago 
--RIL FY25 consol revenue INR 9.801 tln vs INR 9.145 tln year ago 
--RIL Jan-Mar oil-to-chemicals revenue INR 1.646 tln vs INR 1.426 tln year ago
--RIL Jan-Mar oil-to-chemicals EBITDA INR 150.80 bln vs INR 167.62 bln yr ago 
--RIL Jan-Mar oil-to-gas revenue INR 64.4 bln vs INR 64.68 bln year ago
--RIL Jan-Mar oil and gas EBITDA INR 51.23 bln vs INR 56.06 bln year ago
--RIL: Jio Platforms Jan-Mar ARPU INR 206.2/month 
--RIL Jan-Mar consol EBITDA INR 487.37 bln, up 3.6% on year 
--RIL: Jio Platforms Jan-Mar ARPU INR 206.2/month vs INR 203.3/month qtr ago 
--RIL Jan-Mar consol EBITDA margin 16.9%, down 90 bps on year 
--RIL Jan-Mar Reliance Retail sales INR 786.22 bln vs INR 676.10 bln yr ago 
--RIL Jan-Mar Reliance Retail EBITDA INR 67.11 bln vs INR 58.71 bln yr ago 
--RIL Jan-Mar capex INR 360.41 bln vs INR 232.07 bln year ago 
--RIL: Jio Platforms Jan-Mar revenue INR 339.86 bln vs INR 330.74 bln qtr ago 
--RIL consol cash, cash equivalents as on Mar 31 at INR 2.304 tln 
--RIL Jan-Mar Reliance Retail EBITDA margin 8.5%, down 20 bps on year 
--RIL: Jio Platforms Jan-Mar EBITDA INR 170.16 bln vs INR 165.85 bln qtr ago 
--RIL outstanding debt on Mar 31 at INR 3.475 tln vs INR 3.246 tln yr ago 
--RIL: Jio Platforms Jan-Mar EBITDA margin 50.1%, unch on qtr 
--RIL: Reliance Retail store count 19,340 as on Mar 31, up 2.7% on year 
--RIL Jan-Mar oil-to-chemicals EBITDA margin 9.2%, down 260 bps on year 
--RIL Jan-Mar oil-to-chemicals ops throughput 20.3 mln tn, up 2.5% on yr 
--RIL Jan-Mar oil-to-chemicals output for sale 17.9 mln tn, up 4.7% on year 
--RIL: Jio Platforms customer base 488.2 mln on Mar 31 vs 482.1 mln qtr ago 
--RIL: Reliance Retail opened 1,085 stores in Jan-Mar 
--RIL: Oil-to-chemicals sales up on higher volumes, domestic pdt placement 
--RIL Jan-Mar oil and gas EBITDA margin 79.5% vs 86.7% year ago 
--RIL Jan-Mar KGD6 block production 63.7 billions of cubic feet equivalent 
--RIL Jan-Mar KGD6 block production down 10.8% on year 
--RIL: Crude throughput maximized with economical crude sourcing 
--RIL Jan-Mar KGD6 gas avg price realised $10.09/mBtu vs $9.53/mBtu year ago 
--RIL:Transportation fuels cracks dn from last year's peak on demand slowdown 
--RIL: Streamlining, rationalisation aided improvement in retail ops Oct-Mar
--CONTEXT: Comments by RIL mgmt in investor presentation on Jan-Mar earnings
--RIL: Oil and gas segment impacted with lower production in FY25
--RIL: Added 1.5 mln JioHome subscribers Jan-Mar in digital broadband svcs
--RIL: Air conditioner, cooler sales up on early onset of summer
--RIL: Sales from consumer brands INR 114.50 bln in FY25
--RIL: Jiomart expanded hyper local deliveries sharply in Jan-Mar
--RIL:Retail air conditioner sales strong Jan-Mar with early onset of summer
--RIL:Jan-Mar Jiomart hyper local delivery exit daily order up 2.4 times QoQ
--RIL: Campa market share double-digit in key markets where available
--RIL: JioStar share of sports viewing over 85?ross TV, digital in India
--RIL: Jan-Mar oil, gas segment EBITDA down YoY amid lower gas production
--RIL: Jan-Mar oil, gas segment EBITDA down YoY amid maintenance activities
 

 

By Sunil Raghu and Anjana Therese Antony

 

AHMEDABAD/MUMBAI – Reliance Industries Ltd. posted a 2.4% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit for Jan-Mar to INR 194.07 billion, belying the Street's expectations of a fall. The company was expected to report a sharp slowdown in earnings growth in the March quarter, with the oil-to-chemicals business seen to be struggling. For Oct-Dec, Reliance Industries had seen its net profit rise 7% on year.

 

Analysts had expected the conglomerate's consolidated net profit for Jan-Mar to fall 3% on year from INR 189.51 billion a year ago. Its consolidated revenue rose 9.9% on year to INR 2.65 trillion, from INR 2.41 trillion a year ago, again beating analysts' expectations of INR 2.39 trillion.

 

Reliance Industries beat analysts' expectations as the oil-to-chemicals business saw revenue growing 15.4% to INR 1.65 trillion, up from INR 1.43 trillion a year ago. The revenue from the company's digital services business, led by Reliance Jio, also rose to INR 408.61 billion during the reporting quarter, up 17.6% from INR 347.41 billion a year ago.

 

The revenue of the company's retail businesses also did better than expected, growing 15.6% on year to INR 886.37 billion, from INR 766.83 billion a year ago. The fading of the demand seen in the festival season in the December quarter had been expected to drag the conglomerate's performance down.

 

The oil and gas segment of Reliance Industries saw a minor fall in revenue to INR 64.40 billion from INR 64.68 billion a year ago.

 

The company's digital business, which houses Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., appeared to continue to reap the benefit of the tariff hikes announced in July last year. The revenue of Jio Platforms for Jan-Mar was INR 339.86 bln, as against INR 330.74 billion in Oct-Dec.

 

Despite better revenues, the oil-to-chemicals business saw a decline in consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation. For Jan-Mar, the segment's EBITDA was INR 150.80 billion, down 10% from INR 167.62 billion a year ago. The EBITDA margin for the segment was 9.2%, down 260 basis points on year. RIL's oil-to-gas EBITDA fell 8.6% on year to INR 51.23 billion because of reduced production of natural gas and some maintenance activities.

 

Though analysts had expected growth in the company's retail business to slow down in the absence of festival-led demand, the segment reported an on-year rise in revenue, riding on the opening of 1,085 new stores in the March quarter, taking the total Reliance Retail store count to 19,340 as of Mar. 31, up 2.7% on year. In some synchronisation with analysts' expectations, Reliance Retail saw its Jan-Mar EBITDA margin at 8.5%, down 20 bps on year.

 

Sequentially, the company reported a rise of nearly 4.7% in consolidated net profit attributable to shareholders, lower than the 11.9% on-quarter growth seen in the corresponding quarter a year ago. At the same time, revenue rose 8.5% from the previous quarter.

 

For the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), Reliance Industries reported a consolidated net profit of INR 696.48 billion on a revenue of INR 9.80 trillion. In FY24, the company had clocked a consolidated net profit of INR 696.21 billion on a revenue of INR 9.14 trillion.

 

As of Mar. 31, RIL's outstanding debt stood at INR 3.475 trillion, up from INR 3.246 trillion a year ago. Its consolidated cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 2.304 trillion. The board of directors approved a dividend of INR 5.50 per share for FY25. It also approved the company's request to raise up to INR 250 billion via non-convertible debentures.

 

Across businesses, Reliance Industries invested INR 360.41 billion as capital expenditure in the March quarter. In Oct-Dec, the company's capital expenditure was INR 322.59 billion.

 

OIL-TO-CHEMICALS SEGMENT

Revenue from the company's largest vertical grew 15.4% on year to INR 1.65 trillion for Jan-Mar, primarily on account of higher production for sale compared to the same period a year ago. The output for sale in Jan-Mar was 17.9 million tonnes, up 4.7% on year. Throughput was 20.3 million tonnes, up 2.5% on year. This volume-led growth could not, however, sustain the vertical's EBITDA margin, which fell 260 bps on year. The EBITDA was hit by weak fuel cracks, which were down 27-55%, and polyester chain deltas that were down 15%. They were partially offset by strength in polymers and elastomer deltas, the company said in an investor presentation. Value-added crude oil processing, too, helped to mitigate the sharp fall in margins. So did higher domestic placement, improved contribution from sulphur with 117% increase in price, and favourable exchange rate movement.

 

"The oil-to-chemicals business posted a resilient performance despite considerable volatility in the energy markets," Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said in a press release issued after the results were declared. "Significant demand-supply imbalances in downstream chemicals markets have led to multi-year low margins. Our business teams ensured optimisation of integrated operations and feedstock costs to enhance margin capture across value chains."

 

The company's oil-to-chemicals segment EBITDA fell by 10.0% on year to INR 150.8 billion on a sharp fall in transportation fuel cracks and lower polyester chain margins, partially offset by higher volume, feedstock cost optimisation, and higher polypropelene and polyvinyl chloride delta. 

 

The segment's EBITDA margin during the quarter fell to 9.2%, compared with 11.8% in the year-ago period. Brent crude oil prices averaged $75.70 a barrel in the March quarter, down $7.50 a barrel from the same quarter in 2024. The average Brent crude oil price fell 9% on year on tariff concerns and anticipation of future supply adjustments by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its affiliated countries, the company said.

 

JIO PLATFORMS

The impact of tariff revision for mobile services and growth in the home and digital services businesses drove the operating revenue of the company's subsidiary Jio Platforms. This top-line growth was reflected in the rise in EBITDA, which saw double-digit growth, and in other key metrics of the arm. The subsidiary's revenue from operations during the reporting quarter rose nearly 18% on year to INR 339.86 billion and 17% in FY25 to INR 1.282 trillion. Its EBITDA rose nearly 19% from the year-ago period to INR 170.16 billion. The EBITDA margin improved by 40 basis points to 50.1%.

 

Jio Platforms' average revenue per user rose 13.5% on year in Jan-Mar to INR 206.20, higher than INR 203.30 a quarter ago. Analysts had expected the average revenue per user to be between INR 205.00 and INR 208.00. The company attributed the growth in the metric to the tariff hike and a better subscriber mix.

 

During the March quarter, the company's net subscriber addition was 6.1 million, driven by the rebound of mobility additions after the tariff hike and the steady ramp-up of connected homes, it said, adding that the monthly churn of 1.8% was the lowest in the industry. Its total customer base grew 1.3% from the previous year to 488.2 million.

 

"Jio continues to drive consistent outperformance in customer engagement with best-in-the-world network technologies and a wide bouquet of digital services for all Indians," Reliance Jio Infocomm Chairman Akash M. Ambani said, according to the press release. "Jio is working on enabling large scale AI (artificial intelligence) infrastructure and services that will add an intelligence layer to all Jio services," he added. 

 

A major announcement of the company during the quarter was its agreement with Elon Musk's SpaceX to offer Starlink's broadband internet services to customers in India. Jio will offer Starlink equipment in its retail outlets and also establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation, it said.

 

OIL AND GAS

Revenue from the company's exploration business fell to INR 64.40 billion in Jan-Mar, down 0.4% from a year ago on lower gas production from its KG-D6 block and on account of maintenance activities. The segment's EBITDA during the quarter fell 8.6% on year and 7.9% on quarter to INR 51.23 billion. The EBITDA margin for the segment fell to 79.5%, down 720 basis points on year.

 

During the quarter, the average price realisation for KG-D6 gas rose to $10.09 per million British thermal units from $9.53 per mBtu a year ago. For coal-bed methane gas, the average realisation fell to $10.36 per mBtu from $14.34 per mBtu a year ago. Total production from the KG-D6 block fell over 10.8% on year to 63.70 billion cubic feet equivalent, while the same from coal-bed methane rose 28.6% on year to 2.7 billion cubic feet equivalent.

 

RETAIL SEGMENT

As in the December quarter, a recovery in revenues and profits marked the earnings performance of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., retail subsidiary of Reliance Industries, for the March quarter. After the earnings announcement, the management in its commentary said streamlining and rationalisation had helped to improve retail operations during the past two quarters. This saw revenue from the operations of Reliance Retail Ventures rise 16.3% on year to more than INR 786 billion for the March quarter. During Oct-Dec, the revenue was INR 796 billion.

Reliance Retail's EBITDA increased 14.6% on year to INR 65.10 billion. Sequentially, the retail subsidiary's EBITDA fell 1.8%.

The retail business opened 1,085 new stores in the March quarter, taking the total store count to 19,340 with area under operation at 77.4 million square feet, the company said. In the March quarter, footfalls in the retail business increased 14.8% on year to around 349 million. The number of transactions rose more than 16% on year to 361 million. The company said Jiomart hyper local delivery exit daily orders were up 2.4 times on quarter.

 

On consumer electronics, the company said its average bill value improved 26% on year and the early onset of summer saw sales of air-conditioners and air coolers pick up, achieving 21% on-year growth.

 

The company said its consumer brands delivered INR 114.50 billion in revenue during FY25 and its business continued to expand its reach through general trade. It also launched a sports drink, ‘Spinner', and acquired the personal care brand ‘Velvette' during the quarter to strengthen its product portfolio. Its soft drink brand Campa has partnered with JioStar as a co-sponsor for the Indian Premier League 2025 and secured exclusive rights for all home matches of the Indian cricket team, the company said.

 

The board of directors of Reliance Industries has approved the appointment of Anant Ambani as a whole-time director and executive director for a period of five years, starting May 1. Anant is currently a non-executive director in the company. Shares of Reliance Industries closed almost flat at INR 1,300.40 per share on the National Stock Exchange. The company detailed its Jan-Mar results after market hours.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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