Reliance net falls 15% to Rs15,792 cr; revenue up 15% at Rs240,963 cr

Consolidated net profit of the oil-to-retail and telecom group declined to Rs15,792 crore, or Rs23.34 per share, in Q3 FY23 compared with Rs18,549 crore, or Rs28.08 a share, during the comparable quarter of the previous financial year, according to the company's stock exchange filing.

Sequentially, the net profit was up 15 per cent from Rs13,656 crore in July-September 2022. 

RIL’s gross revenue was up 15 per cent at Rs240,963 crore.

EBITDA at Rs38,460 crore was up 13.5 per cent year-on-year led by consumer businesses and higher oil and gas prices aiding the upstream segment.

EBDTA of its digital services business, which includes telecom, at Rs12,900 crore was up 26 per cent, while retail EBITDA was up 25 per cent at Rs4,786 crore. Oil and gas EBITDA almost doubled to Rs3,880 crore.

However, its oil refining and petrochemicals business, called O2C, was muted with a 3 per cent rise in segment EBITDA to Rs13,926 crore.

Telecom arm Jio reported a 28.6 per cent jump in net profit to Rs4,881 crore on customer base swelling to 433 million and a 17.5 per cent increase in per-user earnings.

Retail business net profit was up 6.2 per cent at Rs2,400 crore on the back of growth across consumption baskets, and rising contribution from digital channel. The company added 789 stores.

Finance cost soared 36.4 per cent to Rs5,201 crore as aggregate debt saw a massive increase of Rs59,000 crore to Rs3,03,530 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year. RIL is currently engaged in a major thrust into green energy business. Other expenses of the company were also higher at Rs5,421 crore.

Depreciation increased by 32.6 per cent to Rs10,187 crore due to an expanded asset base across all the businesses and higher network utilisation in the digital services business, a company statement said.

The company said net debt after considering Rs193,282 crore cash balance, was lower than annualised EBITDA.

Commenting on the results, Mukesh D Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries Ltd said: "All segments contributed to the robust growth in consolidated EBITDA on a y-o-y basis."

In the O2C business, middle distillate product fundamentals remain strong with firm demand, constrained supply, and high natural gas prices in Europe.

Downstream chemical products witnessed margin pressure with excess supply and relatively weak regional demand.

"Our focus remains on operating safely and reliably producing vital fuel and materials for consumers," he said.

Telecom arm Jio delivered record revenues and EBITDA driven by strong momentum in customer growth and data consumption.

"This quarter we launched True 5G services.

“It is now available in 134 cities and towns in India, enhancing the customer experience while enabling next-generation services," Ambani said.

On retail business, he said the firm was focused on delivering superior products and value to customers while improving profitability.

"Our upstream business delivered robust growth with sustained production from KG D6 block along with a higher realisation.

“We are on track to reach 30 million standard cubic meters per day of gas production in FY24 after the commissioning of the MJ field.

“This will significantly enhance India's energy security in a volatile energy market environment."

Reliance, he said, is making rapid progress towards the implementation of new energy Giga factories at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

"Our strong balance sheet and robust cash flows remain the cornerstone of our commitment to growing existing businesses as well as investing in new opportunities," he added.