RIL surges 5% to hit fresh record high; market-cap crosses Rs 14 trillion

According to reports, Amazon.com Inc is in talks to buy a 9.9 per cent stake in the company's retail arm.

Shares of Reliance Industries hit a fresh record high of Rs 2,163, up 5 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, after media reports said Amazon.com Inc is in talks to buy a 9.9 per cent stake in the company’s retail arm. With today’s gain, the stock has rallied nearly 150 per cent in the past four months from Rs 867, touched on March 23, 2020.

A sharp rally in stock price has seen the RIL become the first company to cross its market capitalisation (market-cap) of Rs 14-trillion today. At 03:07 pm, the market valuation of the fully paid shares of RIL stood at Rs 13.64 trillion and that of partly paid shares was Rs 54,575 crore, giving it a total m-cap of Rs 14.18 trillion.

Amazon wants a preferred, strategic stake in Reliance Retail for JioMart, ET Now reported on Thursday, citing sources. JioMart, the e-commerce venture of Reliance's retail arm, was launched in May and poses a formidable challenge to Amazon.com's local unit and Walmart Inc's Flipkart.

According to a Reuters report, an Amazon spokeswoman through email said the company does not comment on speculation, while Reliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

Since July 16, 2020, in the past seven trading days, the stock has rallied 17 per cent after RIL’s big-ticket announcements in retail and telecom at its annual general meeting (AGM) held in last week. The company discussed various opportunities, growth levers, and strategic initiatives in the consumer business in detail.

Reliance Retail is the fastest growing retailer in the world, and the only Indian Retailer to feature in the Top 100 global retailers. In the last five years, the company’s revenues in the retail business have grown 8 times and profits 11 times. Last year, Reliance Retail revenues were Rs 162,936 crore and EBITDA was Rs 9,654 crore.

“We have received strong interest from strategic and financial investors in Reliance Retail. We will induct global partners and investors in Reliance Retail in the next few quarters,” Mukesh Ambani had said during Reliance's 43rd AGM.

Going forward, RIL plans to strengthen and grow retail and O2C business are also an encouraging sign. On the financial side, it has a healthy balance sheet, net debt-free status, strong management and promising growth prospects across businesses. Religare Broking remains positive on the company’s long-term growth plans and would advise investors to hold the stock for healthy returns.