Reliance Industries posts record profit-- retail shines despite a slowdown

• Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries declared its second-quarter earnings today.
• Profit jumped 9.5% to ₹9,702 crore compared to year earlier even as management acknowledged a slowdown in consumption.
• The share price of RIL had jumped over 12% in the last one month compared to the 4% rally in the benchmark index, Sensex.

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries declared its second-quarter earnings today. The net profit for the period between July and September 2019 jumped 9.5% to ₹9,702 crore-- the highest ever in the company's history.



This performance came despite some softness in the refining business. Gross refining margin for the period came in at $9.4 a barrel, which will be a disappointment for the markets, according to analyst SP Tulsian who spoke to a television channel.



The share price of Reliance Industries had already run up over 12% in the last one month and investors have priced a strong show from the company that was once an energy giant, and is now fast changing into a consumer business with its thrust on Reliance Retail and on telecom via Reliance Jio.


Reliance Retail's strong 27% growth in quarterly revenue would come as a surprise even for the company that did acknowledge a slowdown in consumption. Subscriber addition by Reliance Jio slowed, so did the average revenue per user, but the company managed to cut costs and make more margin out of its telecom business.

These are some of the top highlights from Reliance Industries earnings:

1. Revenue decreased by 8.4% to ` 94,446 crore ($ 13.3 billion)
2. Exports decreased by 12.1% to ` 53,161 crore ($ 7.5 billion)
3. Gross Refining Margin (GRM) of $ 9.4/bbl for the quarter
4. Refining Throughput of 16.7 MMT during the quarter
5. Petchemicals Production of 9.9 MMT during the quarter.
6. Reliance Jio'subscriber addition has been less than estimates but margin has improved sharply.
7. Jio reported a 45.40% rise in profit at ₹990 crore compared to the same time last year
8. The average revenue per Jio user was ₹120.
9. Outstanding debt at September end was ₹2.91 lakh crore ($41.2 billion).
10. Petrochemicals revenue fell 11.9% compared to the same period last year.

"We continue to build our consumer businesses. The strategic partnership with Aramco highlights its value to all stakeholders. The petrochemicals will benefit from both rising demand in India and our feedstock," Chief Financial Officer Alok Agarwal said in his post-earnings webcast.


SEE ALSO:
Reliance Retail surprises with a sharp growth of 27.3% despite slowdown

Reliance Retail surprises with a sharp growth of 27.3% despite slowdown

Reliance Jio added fewer subscribers in Q2 but made more money out of them