MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India’s biggest company by market capitalization, reported a 29.7% increase in consolidated net profit for the July-September quarter on account of higher sales and the robust overall performance of its businesses.
Net profit rose to ₹19,878 crore from ₹15,332 crore in the year earlier. Revenue from operations was up 1.2% to ₹2.55 lakh crore from ₹2.52 lakh crore.
“Strong operational and financial contribution from all business segments has helped Reliance deliver another quarter of robust growth,” chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said on Friday. The resilient performance of the oil-to-chemicals segment despite volatility in the energy markets was led by strong growth in fuel demand in a supply-constrained market.
“Weak global demand and supply overhang continued to impact downstream margins,” he said. “The growth of the oil and gas business is particularly noteworthy with production from the KGD6 block ramping up and providing valuable fuel for the energy transition to the Indian economy.”
Consolidated ebitda or operating profit came in at ₹44,867 crore, up 30% on-year.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was ₹17,394 crore, up from ₹13,656 crore a year earlier.
Sequentially, revenue from operations rose 10.7% to Rs 26,875 crore while net profit was up 12% to Rs 5,297 crore.
RIL’s shares had ended at Rs 2,265.25, up 1.75% on the BSE Friday. The benchmark Sensex ended 1% higher. Results were announced after the market closed.
The company reported cash and cash equivalents of Rs 1.78 lakh crore against Rs 1.92 lakh crore in the June quarter and Rs 2.02 lakh crore a year ago. This included Rs 10,347 crore capital raised in Reliance Retail. The figures for the preceding quarter were restated to reflect the demerger of the financial services business, the company said in a press statement. RIL had outstanding debt of Rs 2.96 lakh crore at the end of the second quarter against Rs 3.19 lakh crore as of June.
“Earnings have been strong across all businesses, very strong operational performance,” said V Srikanth, chief financial officer, in a post-earnings call Friday. “Also, the strong operating cash flows have funded all the capex. We think that capex will peak in FY24 with completion of the fast-track 5G rollout by end of this year, and overall earnings momentum in consumer business… we see high visibility of growth.”
During the quarter, the oil to chemicals (O2C) business saw a drop of 7.3% in revenue primarily on account of a sharp 14% reduction in crude oil prices, resulting in lower price realisation for products.
Segment ebitda, however, was up 36% year on year with strength in gasoline and PVC margins, optimised feedstock sourcing, and lower special additional excise duty on crude petroleum.
Reliance Retail’s net profit rose 21.1 % in the second quarter from the year earlier, while revenue increased 18.8 % after the store chain saw the highest-ever footfalls at 260 million across formats.
Net profit has been rising steadily—6% in the December quarter, 13% in the March quarter and 18.8% in the June quarter. The retail division, which runs 18,650 stores selling groceries, consumer electronics and apparel, posted revenue of Rs 68,937 crore in the July-September period, while net profit was at Rs 2,790 crore.
Source: The Economic Times
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