MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday said its consolidated net profit rose 12.5 per cent at Rs 8,109 crore for the quarter ended September 2017 compared with Rs 7,209 crore during the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose 23.9 per cent at Rs 1,01,169 crore compared to Rs 81,651 crore, aided by growth across segments including petrochemicals, refining, retail and digital businesses. The element of surprise came from Reliance Jio, the conglomerate’s newest telecom arm, which posted an operating profit within two quarters of starting commercial operations.
In its first quarterly financial disclosure, Jio reported an Ebitda of Rs 1,443 crore for the September quarter. However, net losses widened to Rs 270.59 crore against a net loss of Rs 21.3 crore the previous quarter on a standalone revenue of Rs 6,147 crore. Jio’s average revenue per user stood at Rs 156.4, marginally higher than market leader Airtel’s Rs 154.
“Another quarter of robust performance includes the financial performance of Reliance Jio, which had a positive Ebit contribution in its first quarter of commercial opearations,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL.
Meanwhile, gross refining margin (GRM), which determines the company’s earnings from fuel, scaled a nine-year high at $12 per barrel, higher than the benchmark Singapore complex GRM of $8.3 per barrel for the September quarter.
RIL’s petrochemical business saw a 10 per cent growth sequentially or 24.87 per cent over last year at Rs 27,999 crore.
Ebit (earnings before interest and tax) jumped 23 per cent over the previous quarter at Rs 4,960 crore, while margins expanded by 190 basis points sequentially. Similarly, revenue from the company’s refining business shot up 4.2 per cent over the previous quarter at Rs 69,766 crore, while Ebit declined 11.4 per cent to Rs 6,621 crore.
This was due to an exceptional item of Rs 1,087 crore, but year-on-year growth stood at 10.8 per cent.