Reliance Jio sees 20% growth in Q1 net profit at Rs 612 cr

Telecom major Reliance Jio today reported a 19.9 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 612 crore for April-June 2018 over the previous quarter, and said its strong first quarter performance is "despite competitive intensity".

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 510 crore in the January-March 2018, Reliance Jio said in a statement.

The Reliance Industries' telecom arm had posted a loss of Rs 21.27 crore in the quarter ended June 2017.

Reliance Jio's revenue from operations came in at Rs 8,109 crore in the June quarter, up nearly 14 per cent from the fourth quarter of FY'18. Its subscriber base was at 215.3 million at the end of June.

"Jio continues on its path to drive digital revolution in India. We doubled our customer base and most user metrics in the last 12 months. 215 million customers within 22 months of start is a record that no technology company has been able to achieve anywhere in the world," Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said.

He added that the "continued strength in financial results of Jio despite competitive intensity reinforces the customer uptake of its services and its strong operating leverage".

Jio's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metrics for telecom companies, was at Rs 134.5 per month.

The company said it had added 28.7 million users (net basis) in the reported quarter, the highest in any quarter since the launch of its commercial services.

On gross basis, the company had added 30.5 million subscribers with a churn of 1.8 million, it said.

The average data consumption per user per month on Jio's network was 10.6 GB, while average voice consumption was at 744 minutes per user a month.

Reliance Jio said its strong financial performance reflects "robust business fundamentals" and is "despite competitive pressures".

The earnings were bolstered by growth in subscriber additions as well as much higher data usage, it added.

The strong Q1 score card of Reliance Jio comes in sharp contrast to the performance of its rivals, with whom the deep-pocketed Reliance Group company has pitched a sustained and relentless price war.

Yesterday, Bharti Airtel reported the first-ever loss of Rs 940 crore from its mainstay India business for the June quarter. Vodafone India, on the other hand, reported a decline of 22.3 per cent in June quarter revenue to 959 million euros, citing intense competition and cuts in termination rates.

Vodafone, yesterday, received the final approval from the government for its merger with Idea Cellular, which is scheduled to announce its results on July 30.