Reliance Retail, the country’s largest organised retailer, on Friday reported its slowest profit growth in seven quarters for the January-March (Q4FY26) period, at 0.5% year-on-year (yoy) to Rs 3,563 crore amid higher tax expenses and investment in its quick commerce business. But revenue growth in Q4 held up supported by a broad-based performance across consumption baskets, the company said in a post-results earnings call.
Q4 gross revenue at Rs 98,232 crore, grew 10.8% yoy and was the highest-ever for the company. At the net level, Q4 revenue came in at 11.1% yoy at Rs 87,344 crore, led by an uptick in grocery, electronics and fashion and lifestyle. At a full-year level, gross revenue was up 12% yoy to Rs 3.7 lakh crore. Net revenue touched Rs 3.27 lakh crore, also up 12% yoy for the year.
Q4 earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) growth came in at 2.8% yoy, at Rs 6,690 crore. Ebitda margins slipped 60 basis points to 7.7% in Q4 versus 8.3% reported a year ago, impacted mainly by investments in hyper-local commerce, Dinesh Taluja, CFO, Reliance Retail said during the earnings call on Friday.
Margin Compression
Reliance Retail’s tax expenses in the March quarter were up 15.5% versus last year, touching Rs 1,252 crore. Last year, tax expenses stood at Rs 1,084 crore during the same period.
The demerged FMCG business grew 2.2 times versus last year in Q4, touching Rs 7,350 crore, led by brands such as Campa (beverages), Campa Sure (packaged water) and Independence (staples). Campa is now the fourth-largest soft drinks brand, with gross sales of over Rs 4,700 crore. While the water business, led by Campa Sure and Independence Water, is the third-largest branded water player, Taluja said.
For the full year of FY26, the FMCG business’s gross revenue touched Rs 22,000 crore, growing two times versus last year. The FMCG business has also expanded its international presence to over 40 countries through exports and franchise sales.
FMCG Momentum
Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries, said, “Reliance Retail delivered steady growth through the year. I am confident that Reliance Retail’s deep omnichannel presence and its strong understanding of the Indian consumer will continue to underpin sustained growth.”
Reliance Retail continued to focus on new store openings, adding 333 new outlets in the March quarter and 1,564 stores in FY26, taking the total store count to 20,160 with a total area of 78.3 million sq. ft.
“The consumer products vertical, now operating within an independent and focused organisational structure, is gaining meaningful traction with an expanding portfolio of FMCG brands. India’s consumption story has many years of growth ahead of it, and our businesses are built to be at the centre of this opportunity,” Ambani said.
Reliance Retail’s registered customer base stood at 387 million, a growth of 10.9% yoy, in FY26. Moreover, total transactions recorded stood at 1.93 billion, up 38.8% yoy in FY26, which was led by a rapid acceleration in hyper-local commerce, the company said.
In Q4, Reliance Retail recorded a 29% growth sequentially in daily orders and a four-fold growth on a year-on-year basis, establishing India’s widest hyper-local delivery network.
Isha Ambani, executive director, Reliance Retail Ventures, the holding company of Reliance Retail, said that the hyper-local delivery network was powered by 3,100-plus stores across 1,200-plus cities and 5,100-plus pin codes. “This is a uniquely Indian platform, built on a uniquely Reliance scale advantage,” she said.