Driven by an increase in subscribers and higher user engagement on the network, Jio Platforms’ consolidated revenue from operations rose 2.5% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 24,892 crore in October-December quarter. Net profit during the period rose 3.2% to Rs 4,881 crore. The numbers were broadly in line with estimates.
The company’s telecom arm, Reliance Jio added 5.3 million subscribers, lower than 7.7 million subscribers in the preceding quarter.
Jio’s average revenue per user per month rose marginally quarter-on-quarter to Rs 178.2 during the quarter from Rs 177.2 in the July-September quarter. Analysts had expected the company’s Arpu at around Rs 179.
As on December 31, the company’s total subscribers were at 432.9 million, up from 427.6 million as of September end.
“Net subscriber addition was 5.3 million as gross adds remained strong at 34.2 million in 3Q FY23,” the company said.
“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 customer experience while enabling next generation services. It is heartening that customers recognise the great value and world class connectivity that Jio offers on its 4G and 5G networks,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL.
Owing to revenue growth, the company’s consolidated operating profit or Ebitda rose 4.2% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 12,519 crore. Ebitda margin expanded by 80 basis points sequentially to 50.3% in the December quarter largely due to lower spectrum usage charges.
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Total data traffic rose 2.8% quarter-on-quarter to 29 billion GB. Part of the growth can also be attributed to the high number of fiber broadband users added during the quarter. “The quality of subscribers is improving on a day-by-day basis. We have introduced a partner model working with local cable operators for home broadband to focus on smaller towns,” said Kiran Thomas, president at Reliance Jio.
“Jio will connect over 100 million premises with JioFiber and JioAirFiber offering unparalleled digital experiences. We will also empower small merchants and businesses with cutting-edge, plug-and-play solutions delivered from the cloud,” said Akash M Ambani, chairman at Reliance Jio.
The average data consumption per user for the company also rose marginally to 22.4 GB per month.
The voice consumption on the network rose 3.3% quarter-on-quarter in the October-December quarter to 1.27 trillion minutes. The total voice traffic fell 1.6% quarter-on-quarter to 1.23 trillion minutes in the preceding quarter. Accordingly, the average voice consumption per user per month rose 1.7% on quarter to 985 minutes.
On a standalone basis, the company’s net profit rose 2.7% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 4,637 crore, whereas its revenue rose 2.1% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 22,998 crore.