NEW DELHI: Beating Street estimates by a noticeable margin, India’s largest listed entity Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday reported over 19% jump in net profit for the quarter ending March (Q4FY24) to Rs 19,300 crore, backed by improvement in the margin of oil to chemical business and growth across consumer-facing businesses. This is the highest-ever quarterly net profit for the company.
Analysts at large were expecting the telecom-to-energy conglomerate to report net profit lower than Rs 17,000 crore. RIL had reported Rs 15,792 crore net profit during the December quarter, and Rs 16,203 crore during the year-ago-quarter (Q4FY22). Revenue from operations for the quarter rose 2.12% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,16,376 crore compared with Rs 2,11,887 crore in the same quarter last year. Operating Margin for the period stood at about 18% higher than 15.1% last year. For the full FY23, RIL reported a net profit of Rs 74,088 crore, a growth of 14% YoY. Its revenue from operations during the fiscal grew from Rs 7,21,634 crore in FY22 to Rs 892,944 crore.
Segment-wise, RIL’s bread and butter oil to chemicals (O2C) business saw its revenue decline by nearly 12% to Rs 1,28,633 crore, primarily on account of a sharp reduction in crude oil prices and lower price realisation of downstream products. EBITDA, however, for this segment during the quarter improved by 14.4% YoY to Rs 16,293 crore and EBITDA margin was at 12.7%, an increase of 290 bps YoY, led by strength in transportation fuel cracks, optimized feedstock cost and advantageous ethane cracking economics. This was partially offset by lower polyester chain margins. SAED or windfall gains tax on transportation fuels adversely impacted earnings by Rs 711 crore.
“O2C segment posted its highest-ever operating profit despite global uncertainties and disruptions in commodity trade flows. Our oil and gas segment also delivered very strong growth and is now poised to contribute nearly 30% of India’s domestic gas production,” said Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries.
RIL’s retail unit - Reliance Retail Ventures - reported nearly 13% YoY jump in net profit at Rs 2,415 crore in Q4FY23. Its total revenue stood at Rs 69,267 crore, up 19%. The net profit for the full FY23 was Rs 9,181 crore, higher by 30%.
Key stats
Q4FY23 Net profit: Rs 19,300cr
Q4FY22 Net profit: Rs 16,203cr
Q4FY23 Revenue from operations: Rs 2,16,376cr
Q4FY23 Operating Margin: 18%
Q4FY22 Operating Margin: 15.1%
Q4FY22 Revenue from operations: Rs 2,11,887 cr
RIL’s bread and butter oil to chemicals (O2C) business saw its revenue decline by nearly 12% to Rs 1,28,633 crore