Reliance Jio Q4 results: Net profit rises 13%, revenue jumps 11.9%

Jio said net profit rose to Rs 4,716 crore in the three months ended March 31, from Rs 4,173 crore a year ago

The country's biggest telecom operator Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd, reported a 13 per cent rise in profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2023 on Friday, led by the sustained growth in its user base.

Reliance Jio said net profit rose to Rs 4,716 crore ($574.8 million) in the three months ended March 31, from Rs 4,173 crore a year ago.

Its revenue from operations climbed 11.9 per cent to Rs 23,394 crore.

"Jio has taken formidable strides in pioneering 5G rollout across the country with the unmatched speed of execution. 5G has led to a significant improvement in customer experience, reflected in the higher engagement levels among Jio users. "Jio remains committed to build a robust digital society with tailormade technology platforms, which will drive sustained growth in earning and value for all stakeholders," Reliance Jio Infocomm chairman Akash M Ambani said in a statement.

Jio said it has already deployed around 60,000 sites for 5G services across 700MHz and 3500MHz bands and is on track to complete the pan India rollout by December 2023.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 6.7 per cent to Rs 178.8 from Rs 167.6 in the March 2022 quarter.

However, the APRU, a key parameter to measure the growth of telecom companies, remained almost flat on a sequential-quarter basis.

"ARPU increased 6.7 per cent y-o-y due to impact of the tariff hike, better subscriber mix and data add-ons within select customer cohorts," the report said.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio Infocomm plans to raise funds from the sale of commercial papers maturing in nearly three months, three merchant bankers said on Friday. The company will offer a yield of 7.10 per cent on the issue and has received commitments worth around Rs 2,000 crore ($243.74 million) so far, the bankers said.

Analysts had cautioned the growth rates would slow since there were no tariff hikes to cushion the load of Jio spending $11 billion on buying 5G spectrum auction in August.

(With input from agencies)