Reliance Q3 results Highlights: Net profit falls 15% on-year to 15792 cr; here’s Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, Retail business plan

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) consolidated net profit fell 15% to Rs 15,792 crore for the quarter ended 31 December, 2022 (Q3FY23) compared to Rs 18,549 crore reported in the year-ago period.

“We expect RIL’s standalone EBITDA to improve by 42% on-quarter, reflecting (1) elevated middle distillate cracks and improvement in petchem margins, (2) higher E&P profitability on gas price hikes and (3) currency depreciation. We expect the EBITDA of the retail business to increase by 11% on-quarter and 34% on-year, driven by increased store footprint, improvement in footfalls, and benefits of operating leverage.” – Kotak Institutional Equities

“RIL is likely to see a steady improvement across segments, with stronger base GRMs and relatively lower windfall tax to drive better OTC results. However, a ~15% dip in integrated petrochemical spreads will likely offset the refining boost to an extent.” – ICICI Securities

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) shares fell over 1% ahead of the Q3 results announcement on Friday. The shares closed 1.15% lower at Rs 2442.70 on BSE. It touched an intraday low of Rs 2438.10 and a high of Rs 2481.70. The Nifty’s biggest heavyweight shares touched a 52-week high of Rs 2,855.00 on 29 April 2022 and a 52-week low of Rs 2,181.00 on 08 March 2022. In the past year shares have fallen 1.46% while in the 5 years, shares have risen over 165%.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is expected to post a mixed set of financial numbers for the third quarter October-December on Friday, January 20, with net profit likely falling, but EBITDA and revenue rising. Reliance Industries’ – Nifty index’s biggest heavyweight – profit after tax (PAT) for the fiscal third quarter is likely to fall 5-18% on-year due to volatility in oil demand owing to geopolitical disruptions. Low petrochemical margins and windfall tax will weigh on margins further, according to analysts. On the flip side, the company’s EBITDA is expected to rise in double digits largely driven by strong ONG, retail and telecom divisions.

Read full story

“RIL is likely to see a steady improvement across segments, with stronger base GRMs and relatively lower windfall tax to drive better OTC results. However, a ~15% dip in integrated petrochemical spreads will likely offset the refining boost to an extent. Jio is expected to deliver a 2% QoQ rise in EBITDA while retail too is likely to have sustained the momentum, with an estimated 4% jump in QoQ in segment EBITDA. Overall, we expect consolidated EBITDA to grow by 5% QoQ and PAT by 6% QoQ,” said brokerage firm ICICI Securities.

Reliance Jio’s EBITDA came in at Rs 12,009 crore, up 4.52% on-quarter while EBITDA margin was at 52.2% against 51% in the previous quarter.

Reliance Jio in October added 1.4 million subscribers according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data.

Reliance Jio’s total expenses rose to Rs 16,839 crore in Q3FY23 from Rs 14,655 crore in Q3 FY22.

Reliance Jio's revenue from operations jumped by 20.18% to Rs 67,392 crore in 9MFY23 compared to Rs 56,076 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Reliance Jio’s profit after tax (PAT) rose 26.75% to Rs 13,491 crore in the nine months period of FY23 as against Rs 10,643 crore in 9 months of FY22.

Jio recorded an 18.87% growth in revenue from operations at Rs 22,998 crore in Q3FY23 as compared to Rs 19,347 crore in the same period the previous year.

Jio posted a net profit of Rs 4,638 crore, rising by 28.29% compared to a profit of Rs 3,615 crore in the same quarter last year.