Reliance Industries Q2 net falls 15%

October 30, 2020 22:22

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 15 per cent drop in second quarter net profit after the pandemic-hit oil demand dragged down continued good showing in consumer-facing businesses such as telecom.

Consolidated net profit attributable to owners at Rs 9,567 crore in July-September compared with Rs 11,262 crore a year back, Reliance said in a stock exchange filing.

A plunge in fuel demand after the raging pandemic forced people to stay home and stifled the economy dealt a body blow to the firm's traditional cash cow oil refining and petrochemicals, even as consumer-facing businesses, which account for 35 per cent of the oil-to-telecom-to-retail conglomerate's revenues, continued to do well.

Its digital services, which includes the telecom arm Jio, saw standalone net profit swell to Rs 2,844 crore in the second quarter of current fiscal (April 2020 to March 2021) from Rs 990 crore a year back.

This after the four-year-old Jio's subscriber base grew to 406 million, the largest in India.

Net addition of 7.3 million subscribers and per-user revenue rising to Rs 145 helped the telecom business soar.

The gradually 'unlock' that has seen markets and malls reopen helped the company's retail business recover with almost flat revenue and a 14 per cent lower EBITDA of Rs 2,009 crore.

Reliance said 85 per cent of its retail stores were open as of second quarter. It added 232 stores to take the total to 11,931 stores.

Ambani raised an unprecedented Rs 2.5 lakh crore since April from sale of stake in the digital and retail units and a rights issue. Of this, over Rs 1.76 lakh crore has already flowed into the company, helping it achieve net zero debt status.

Petrochemicals revenue fell 23 per cent to Rs 29,665 crore and pre-tax profit dropped 33 per cent at Rs 5,964 crore.

Refining EBITA almost halved to Rs 3,002 crore as revenue slumped 36 per cent.

The firm's twin refineries earned USD 5.7 per barrel on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel, as compared to a gross refining margin (GRM) of USD 9.4 per barrel last year. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh passes away at 92

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92. He was brought to the emergency department of AIIMS Delhi in critical condition after "sudden loss of consciousness."

4th Test Updates: India eye early wickets on Day 2

Manmohan Singh dropped pre-medical course: Book

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who died at the age of 92, dropped out of a pre-medical course after losing interest in the subject, according to a book by his daughter. Daman Singh's book "Strictly Personal: Manmohan and...

Steady progress in implementing LAC pact: China

He said that in recent times, based on the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, China and India have maintained close communication on the border situation through diplomatic and military channels and achieved...

BJP got Rs 2,600cr donations in 2023-24, Cong Rs 281cr

During 2023-24, while the BJP received over Rs 723 crore worth of donations from Prudent Electoral Trust, it also got over Rs 127 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust and over Rs 17 lakh from Einzigartig Electoral Trust.