BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s juggernaut Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) reported 50.7 percent growth in gross revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The company’s operating result was 25.4 percent higher during the quarter under review as compared to the year ago quarter. Organised retail under Reliance Retail Ltd and Digital Services segment under Jio have been adding a larger and larger share to the company’s topline and operating results over time.
Q3-2019 was no different. Revenue for RIL’s Reliance Retail almost doubled (grew 89.3 percent) y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 35,577 crore (16.7 percent of gross revenue) as compared to Rs 18,798 crore (13.3 percent of gross revenue) in Q3 2018. The segment’s operating result grew 210.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,512 crore (0.71 percent of gross revenue) during the period under review from Rs 487 crore (0.34 percent of gross revenue). The segment’s contribution to operating results grew to 8.7 percent in Q3 2019 from 3.5 percent in Q3 2018.
RIL’s digital segment revenue in Q3 2019 grew 51.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 12,302 crore (5.8 percent of gross revenue) from Rs 8,136 crore (5.8 percent of gross revenue). Operating results for the digital segment grew 64 percent y-o-y to Rs 2,362 crore (1.1 percent of gross revenue) in Q3 2019 from Rs 1,440 crore. (1 percent of gross revenue). The segment’s contribution to operating results grew to 13.6 percent in Q3 2019 from 10.4 percent in Q3 2018.
RIL reported gross revenue of Rs 2,12,752 crore for Q3 2019 as compared to Rs 1,41,182 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter. Operating result for the period under review was Rs 17,341 crore as compared to Rs 13,830 crore for Q3 2018. The company reported profit for the period as Rs 10,376 crore which was 10 percent higher as compared to Rs 9,437 crore in Q3 2018. Total Comprehensive income for Q3 2019 was 28.8 percent higher y-o-y at Rs 11,052 crore as compared to Rs 8,582 crore.
FTTH JioGigaFiber services, Den Networks and Hathway Cable & Datacom Investments
In its earnings release, RIL said that JioGigaFiber services for home broadband, entertainment, smart home solutions, wireline and enterprise has witnessed overwhelming customer interest across 1,400 cities. Trial services are being rolled out across several cities to optimise service offerings.
The company said that Jio’s customer engagement stayed healthy with average data consumption per user per month of 10.8 GB and average voice consumption of 794 minutes per user per month. Video consumption drove most of the usage, increasing to 460 crore hours per month.
RIL said further that it awaits regulatory approvals to complete the recently announced investment in Den Networks Ltd and Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd. Post completion of the transaction, Reliance and Jio will be strengthening the business model of 27,000 LCOs that are aligned with DEN and Hathway across 750 cities, by creating multiple future opportunities with new services and platforms.
RIL says that Jio added 2.79 crore subscribers in Q3 2019 and its net subscriber base grew to 28 crore. The company says that Jio has had the lowest monthly churn in the industry of 0.61 percent during the quarter. Jio’s ARPU for Q3 2019 was Rs 130 as compared to Rs 131.70 in the immediate trailing quarter.
Company speak
RIL chairman and managing director Ambani said, “In our endeavour to consistently create more value for our country and stakeholders, our company has become the first Indian private sector corporate to cross Rs 10,000
crore quarterly profits milestone. I am proud to be part of the committed and talented team at Reliance that has helped achieve many milestones in our continuing growth journey.
“In an oil price environment that witnessed heightened volatility through the quarter, RIL has delivered strong quarterly results on a consolidated basis. Competitive cost positions and integration benefits is core to our oil to chemicals (refining and petrochemicals) business, driving sustained performance even in challenging global business environment. In our new-age consumer businesses, we maintained robust growth momentum across Retail and Jio platforms and the share of consumer businesses is steadily increasing its contribution to the overall profitability of the Company. In our wireless business, our customer-centric offerings and strong ubiquitous network are helping to digitalise India at an unprecedented rate. As we execute on our strategies to deliver superior products and services to Indian consumers, I am confident, Reliance is well-positioned for the future and for the next cycle of growth,” concluded Ambani.
