RIL consolidated Q4 PAT at Rs 6,348 cr; announces Rs 53,125 cr rights issue

Reliance Industries on Thursday posted a 38.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,348 crore for the quarter ended March 2020. It had posted profit of Rs 10,362 crore in the year-ago period.

The company said that oil prices have declined 73 per cent, thus impacting the inventory valuation. This has led to Rs 4,245 crore, net of tax (tax Rs 899 crore) exceptional loss for the quarter.

Revenue from operations stood at Rs 139,283 crore, down 2.30 per cent from Rs 142,565 crore in the year-ago period while value of sales & services (revenue) declined 2.5 per cent YoY to Rs 151,209 crore.

Total income of the company stood at Rs 143,416 crore, down 1.35 per cent YoY. Basic earnings per share (EPS) before exceptional items came in at Rs 16.75, against Rs 17.49 in the year-ago period. CLICK TO READ RELEASE

Further, the company also announced that the board has considered and approved the issuance of equity shares of Rs 10 each of the Company on rights basis to eligible equity shareholders of the Company as on the record date (to be notified later), of an issue size of Rs 53,125 crore.

The Board also approved the following terms of the Issue:

• Rights Issue Price: Rs 1,257 per fully paid-up equity share (including a premium of Rs 1,247 per equity share).
• Terms of payment of Issue Price: 25% on application and balance in one or more calls as may be decided by the Board / Committee of the Board from time to time
• Rights Entitlement Ratio: 1 equity share for every 15 equity shares held by eligible shareholders as on the record date.

Further, the company's board has also recommended dividend of Rs 6.50 apiece of Rs 10 each for the financial year ended

March 31, 2020.

As regards coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, the company said, "COVID-19 is significantly impacting business operation of the companies, by way of interruption in production, supply chain disruption, unavailability of personnel, closure / lock down of production facilities etc. Further, during March 2020/April 2020, there has been significant volatility in oil prices, resulting in reduction in oil prices."

WHAT ANALYSTS EXPECTED FROM Q4 RESULTS

Commenting on the results, Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, said: “As India and the world grapple with the biggest challenge faced by our generation, I am heartened by the robust response of Reliance to the extraordinary circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. "

"Our O2C (Oil to Chemicals) businesses delivered sustained earnings due to its integrated portfolio, cost-competitiveness, feedstock flexibility and product placement capabilities. We continue to operate all our major facilities at near normal utilisation levels," Ambani added. 

Segment-wise performance

RIL's Q4 revenue from the Refining & Marketing segment declined by 3.4 per cent YoY to Rs 84,854 crore ($ 11.2 billion) while Segment EBIT increased by 28.2 per cent YoY to Rs 5,706 crore ($ 754 million) with higher throughput and better groos refining margins (GRMs). Segment EBIT improved on YoY basis with maximized crude throughput and better light distillate cracks. GRM for 4Q FY20 was at $ 8.9/bbl, remarkably outperforming Singapore complex margins by $ 7.7/bbl, the company said in its press release.

Revenue from the Petrochemicals segment decreased by 24.1 per cent YoY to Rs 32,206 crore ($4.3 billion) due to lower price realizations along with disruptions in local and regional markets.

"Petrochemicals segment EBIT was at Rs 4,553 crore ($ 0.6 billion), down 42.8 per cent YoY, with significant decline in margins. The impact of lower product margins was mitigated to some extent by optimizing feedstock mix during the quarter," the company said.

Revenue for the Oil & Gas segment decreased by 41.5 per cent YoY to Rs 625 crore. On the other hand, Reliance Retail  stellar performance against the backdrop of a challenging environment. The segment's revenue grew by 4.2 per cent YoY to Rs 38,211 crore while EBITDA for the quarter under review grew by 32. per cent YoY to Rs 2,556 crore.

Reliance Jio numbers

Reliance Jio's standalone revenue from operations, including access revenues, have increased to Rs 14,835 crore, with standalone EBITDA of Rs 6,201 crore and EBITDA margin of 41.8 per cent.

Standalone net profit came in at Rs 2,331 crore during the quarter and at Rs 5,562 crore for the full year, showing an annual increase of 88 per cent. Subscriber base as on March 31, 2020 was at 387.5 million (26.3 per cent YoY growth), with average revenue per unit (ARPU) during the quarter of Rs 130.6 per subscriber per month.

Total wireless data traffic during the quarter was 1,284 crore GB (34.3 per cent YoY growth) and total voice traffic during the quarter was 87,634 crore minutes (21 per cent YoY growth).