EBITDA for Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) rose 17.8% Y-o-Y due to better subscriber mix, digital services scale-up and revision in telecom tariffs.
On October 14, Reliance Industries Limited, India’s leading conglomerate, announced its financial results for the second quarter (Q2 FY25) and the first half of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024 (1H FY25).
Reliance Q2 FY25 Results
Gross Revenue remained stable year-over-year at ₹258,027 crore ($30.8 billion).
- Oil to Chemicals (O2C) revenue increased due to higher volumes and greater domestic product placement.
- Digital Services revenue rose, driven by revised telecom tariffs and the expansion of home and digital services.
- The Oil and Gas segment saw a 6% decline in revenue due to lower gas price realisations.
EBITDA decreased by 2.0% year-over-year to ₹43,934 crore ($5.2 billion).
- Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) experienced a 17.8% year-over-year EBITDA increase, thanks to a better subscriber mix and tariff revisions.
- Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) improved its EBITDA margin by 30 basis points through operational streamlining and a focused B2B approach.
- O2C EBITDA fell by 23.7% due to a significant drop in product margins, with fuel cracks declining nearly 50% year-over-year and downstream chemical performance affected by muted global demand.
- The Oil and Gas segment’s EBITDA rose by 11.0%, attributed to sustained volume growth and one-time provisioning for decommissioning costs in the Tapti field from Q2 FY24.
- Operating revenue growth was primarily driven by the partial impact of tariff hikes and scaling up home and digital services.
- Strong EBITDA growth resulted from healthy revenue increases and operational leverage.
- Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) rose to ₹195.1, reflecting the initial impact of tariff hikes and an improved subscriber mix; the full effect is expected in the next 2-3 quarters.
- Engagement levels remained robust, with total data and voice traffic up 24% and 6.4% year-over-year, respectively.
- Some SIM consolidation occurred following the tariff hike, leading to a monthly churn increase to 2.8%.
- The business reported revenue of ₹76,302 crore, down 1.1% year-over-year, impacted by weak demand in the Fashion and Lifestyle segment and a focus on operational streamlining.
- EBITDA was ₹5,850 crore, a slight increase of 0.3% year-over-year, with operational EBITDA at ₹5,675 crore, up 1.0% year-over-year and an operational EBITDA margin of 8.5%, an increase of 40 basis points year-over-year.
- Store Expansion: 464 new stores opened, bringing the total to 18,946, with operational space of 79.4 million sq. ft.
- Foot Traffic: The quarter saw over 297 million footfalls, a 14% increase year-over-year.
- Digital Commerce Growth: Ongoing focus on scaling up Digital and New Commerce, contributing 17% of total revenue.
- Customer Base: Reliance Retail’s registered customer base grew to 327 million, reinforcing its position as one of India’s most preferred retailers.
Commenting on the results, Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited said: “I am happy to note that during this quarter Reliance once again demonstrated the resilience of its diversified business portfolio. Our performance reflects robust growth in Digital Services and Upstream business. This helped partially offset the weak contribution from the O2C business which was impacted by unfavourable global demand-supply dynamics.”
He further added “Growth that Digital Services was led by increased ARPU and improving customer engagement metrics reflecting the strong value proposition of our services. The home broadband segment is witnessing accelerated momentum on the back of our unique industry-leading JioAirFiber offering. Jio’s broad spectrum of offerings enables it to digitally empower every village, town and city in India as well as the country’s small and medium-scale enterprises. The digital services business continues to focus on innovative deep-tech solutions on a national scale and is on track to deliver the path-breaking benefits of Artificial Intelligence to all Indians.”
On October 15, 2024, Reliance Industries shares opened at ₹2,718.95 and touched the day high of ₹2,744.00 at 09:30 AM
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