RIL posts 7% YoY rise in Q1 PAT at Rs 10,104 crore, revenue jumps 21%

Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday reported a 6.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 10,104 crore. The company had logged PAT (profit after tax) or net profit of Rs 9,459 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the numbers dropped 2.48 per cent.  In the previous quarter (April-March period), the numbers stood at Rs 10,362 crore. 

Revenue from operations stood at Rs 161,349 crore, up 21.2 per cent YoY against Rs 133,069 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Revenue before deducting GST (goods & services tax) increased 22.1 per cent YoY to Rs 172,956 crore. 

Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter under review came in at Rs 17.05 against Rs 15.97 registered in the year-ago period. 

Gross refining margin (GRM) for the quarter came in at $8.10/bbl. Analysts at Emkay Global had projected RIL's GRMs to come in at $8/barrel, down 2 per cent QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) due to unfavorable Brent-Dubai and refinery shutdown.

"Net sales or revenue is expected to grow 12.2 per cent YoY and 4.2 per cent QoQ to Rs 14,4434.3 crore. EBITDA margin is seen at 13.8 per cent, down 229 basis points (bps) YoY and 127 bps," the brokerage had said. .

RIL's telecom arm Reliance Jio posted a net profit of Rs 891 crore. Average revenue per user (ARPU) came in at Rs 122.  Revenue from operations came in Rs 11,679 crore, up 5.2 per cent QoQ while EBITDA grew 8.2 per cent QoQ at Rs 4,686 crore. Subscriber base as on June 30, 2019 stood at 331.3 million. 

Analysts at ICICI Securities had pegged Jio (Digital) to report an ARPU (average revenue per user) of Rs 124 (down 2 per cent qoq) and quarter-end subscribers at 330.7 million (up 8 per cent qoq).

“Growth in Jio mobility services has continued to surpass all expectations. In less than two years of commercial operations, Jio network carried almost 11 Exabytes of data traffic during the recently concluded fiscal quarter. Jio management is focused on giving unmatched digital experience at most affordable price to every citizen of the country, and accordingly expanding the network capacity and coverage to keep pace with demand," said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director at Reliance Industries. 

In a separate filing, RIL informed bourses that Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company has entered into an agreement with BIF IV Jarvis India, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. ("Brookfield") for an investment by Brookfield (along with coinvestors) of Rs 25,215 crore in the units proposed to be issued by the Tower Infrastructure Trust. 

The stock of Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday had ended 1 per cent lower at Rs 1,249 apiece on the BSE.  Results were announced post market hours.