Reliance Jio Platforms Q2 net profit rises 3.9% QoQ to ₹5,297 crore

• Reliance Jio Platforms’ Q2 net profit grew 3.9% QoQ while its revenues grew 2.9%.
• It added over 11 million subscribers during the quarter.
• Its average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 2.5% Y-o-Y to ₹181.7 driven by better subscriber mix.

Reliance Jio Platforms’s consolidated second quarter net profit rose 3.9% sequentially to ₹5,297 crore from ₹5,098 crore in the June quarter. Its revenue from operations went up by 2.9% to ₹26,895 crore as compared to ₹26,115 crore in the first quarter of FY24. It also added 11.1 million subscribers during the quarter.

Its earnings before interest depreciation tax and amortization (EBITDA) rose 3% QoQ to ₹13,528 crore. Its EBITDA margin also went up by one basis point sequentially to 50.3% in the second quarter. Operating income rose 12.6% year-on-year, led by revenue increase and an 80 bps jump in margins. Depreciation increased due to higher network utilisation and incremental addition to gross block.

“Strong subscriber growth across mobility and wireline services and scale up of digital services platform drove JPL consolidated revenue and EBITDA growth,” the company said in its press release.

Its average revenue per user (ARPU) widened to ₹181.7 from ₹180.5 in Q1. This is driven by better subscriber mix across mobility and wireline partially offset by the start of 5G services, the company said.

The results seem to be in line with expectations of analysts. “For RJIL, we expect EBITDA growth to be led by good growth in subscribers while ARPU could show some uptick QoQ. We expect revenue of ₹247.8 billion (+3.1% qoq, +10.1% yoy), EBITDA of ₹129.8bn (+3.2% qoq, +12.9% yoy) and EBITDA margin of 52.4% (+3bp qoq, +16bp yoy). We have assumed revenue growth to be led by incremental subscriber additions of 10 million with ARPU seeing a slight uptick to ₹182,” said a report by Morgan Stanley.

On a year on year comparison, its Q2 net profit went up by 12%, and revenue from operations by 10.6%.

“I am happy that Jio remains committed to the vision of a digital India through the launch of two innovative and transformative offerings, JioAirFiber and JioBharat phone. By December 2023, we will also complete pan-India rollout of 5G services and set a new global benchmark for the fastest roll-out of a 5G network across a large nation,” said Mukesh D Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries.

Source: Media release

In Q1, RJio reported 2.2% sequential growth in net profit, and a similar 2.5% growth in its revenue from operations. It had also added 9.2 million subscribers during the quarter. The telecom major’s average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 1.7% sequentially to ₹180.5 in Q1.

On Friday, Reliance Jio demonstrated India’s first satellite-based giga-fibre service which will provide high-speed, affordable Internet services in inaccessible areas across the country. Called JioSpaceFiber, it was showcased on the first day of ‘India Mobile Congress 2023’ in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Ubiquitous 5G, JioBharat and JioAirFiber are three big growth engines for Jio which would accelerate market share gains and profitability,” said Akash M Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm.