At 41st RIL AGM, Jio may take centre stage again; Street looks for numbers

The last two annual general meetings of Reliance Industries were nothing short of fun fare — announcing telecom venture Jio in the first and launch of JioPhones in the second. At the 41st AGM on Thursday, Jio may take the centre stage again. 

According to RIL’s AGM notice, among other resolutions, RIL looks to seek shareholder approval to raise up to Rs 200 billion through non-convertible debentures (NCD).
 

Last year, the third generation of the Ambani family — Akash and Isha — emerged on stage to unveil JioPhone. It remains to be seen if Anant Ambani will make a debut at the AGM on Thursday.

RIL has managed to retain investors’ attention around its rapidly expanding subscriber base, however, queries around actual revenue addition is a rising concern for investors. The past year saw Jio enter a number of new ventures beyond mobile telephony, like fibre connection and its recent investment in music platform Saavn. Shareholders want for more details on these new investments. 

Analysts may look for guidance on what direction the telecom giant will take. “This AGM, one would expect to hear more details on the road ahead for Jio and information on cash realisation,” an analyst with a domestic brokerage firm said. 

Also, investors are looking for details on the home-to-fibre segment business, which the company has mentioned earlier but details have not come. This is expected to change. 

At its 39th AGM, RIL announced the soft launch for Jio operations, followed by a phased roll-out of commercial operations on a large scale. “RIL may follow a similar strategy for home-to-fibre,” another analyst said. Not just the launch model, RIL is also expected to follow a pricing strategy similar to that of its telecom arm, given its focus is on creating a new market.

“Our aim is to have the consumer businesses contribute on a par with the energy and materials business over the next decade, when we celebrate our Golden Jubilee," Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL, had said in the company's annual report for 2017-18.

He said the management expected the retail and telecom business to contribute on a par with the energy and materials business over the next decade, although (they comprise around 13 per cent of Ebidta) currently.