NEW DELHI: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) likely to launch the initial public offering (IPO) for its telecom arm, Jio Infocomm, next year, while the IPO for its retail venture, Reliance Retail, may be launched at a later date. As per a report based on sources, Jio’s IPO will be launched at a valuation of more than $100 billion.
“The two sources said Reliance has now firmed up plans to launch the Reliance Jio IPO in 2025 as it internally believes it has achieved a stable business and revenue stream. But the retail business IPO is not expected until after 2025 as the company first needs to address some internal business and operational challenges,” according to a report by Reuters.
Mukesh Ambani in 2019 had stated that Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail aimed to go public within five years. However, there has been no update since then. Many in the industry believe a separate listing is part of the succession plan at India’s largest listed company RIL. In July 2023, RIL demerged its financial services business into Jio Financial Services (JFS). Currently, JFS has a market capitalisation of over Rs 2 lakh crore.
In Q2FY25, Jio Infocomm saw a sharp surge of 17.7% in revenue to Rs 37,119 crore and a 23.4% jump in its PAT to Rs 6,539 crore. Jio’s average revenue per user (ARPU) rose to Rs 195.1, up 7.4% YoY in Q2. The full impact of the tariff hike will flow in the next 2-3 quarters, it said.
Reliance Retail (RRVL) reported a marginal fall in revenue to Rs 76,302 crore while PAT remained flat at Rs 2,836 crore in Q2FY25. RRVL said the growth was impacted by weak fashion and lifestyle (F&L) demand, focus on streamlining of operations and a calibrated approach to B2B business to improve margins.