Mukesh Ambani-led and oil and gas major, Reliance Industries has declared its quarterly earnings. The company’s profit jumped 11.7% YoY to Rs 21,930 crore from Rs 19,641 crore. The big contribution came from he company’s digital services and festive demand for the retail business. Even for the Oil and gas business, it was a steady quarter. There was a big jump in O2C or the Oil to Chemical business on a sequential basis with marginal improvement in KGD6 gas price realisations.
Here is a quick look at the key highlights of RIL’s Q3 performance:
1. Telecom/Digital services Business – Jio ARPU up on tariff hike
The company’s digital services business was led by sustained subscriber addition and consistent improvement in customer engagement metrics. This was supported by a favourable subscriber mix, with an increasing number of users upgrading to 5G networks. Jio’s subscriber base stood at 482.1 million at the end of December 2024. This is 2.4% higher on a year-on-year basis and net subscriber addition in Q3 FY25 was 3.3 million with rebound in mobility subscriber addition. Jio’s ARPU increased further to Rs 203.3 with sustained impact of tariff hike and better subscriber mix. The full impact of the tariff hike will flow through over the next few months.It was a record quarter for home connects with 2 million new additions. Jio, the company’s filing at the exchange stated, is at the moment the world’s leading standalone 5G operator (outside China) with subscriber base of 170 million. True5G accounts for 40% of Jio’s wireless traffic.
2. Reliance Retail benefits from festive and wedding demand
The retail business saw robust improvement on the back of demand from festivities and the wedding season. Reliance Retail opened 779 new stores and the the total store count is now at 19,102 with area under operation at 77.4 million sq. ft. The quarter recorded footfalls of over 296 million, a growth of 5% YoY. The registered customer base grew to 338 million in Q3, making Reliance Retail one of the most preferred retailers in the country. The total transactions recorded were at 355 million, up 10.9% YoY in Q3.
Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries added that, “A superior understanding of customer needs and preferences enables Reliance Retail to serve a wide variety of demographic profiles with the right product, at the right time, through the right channel. With customer-centric innovation at its core, the business constantly endeavours to enhance the shopping experience of its customers through its vast reach and a constantly expanding product basket.”
3. Oil & Gas business stays resilient-Lower realisations at KGD6
Reliance Industries’ O2C business showcased resilience, registering growth even in this prolonged period of volatility in the global energy markets. The Oil & Gas segment revenue for Q3 was lower by 5.2% YoY at Rs 6,370 crore ($744 million), mainly on account of lower volume of gas and condensate in KGD6, lower realisation for CBM Gas and Condensate. The average KGD6 Production for Q3 is 28.04 MMSCMD of gas and 21,000 bbl per day of Oil / Condensate. The current rate of production is 27.9 MMSCMD of gas and 20,700 bbl per day of Oil / Condensate. Ambani added that, “Refining margins recovered sequentially, with petrochemical deltas exhibiting a mixed trend. Upstream segment continues to play a pivotal role in providing the crucial transition fuel bolstering India’s energy security.”