Reliance Industries Q4 Results: Profit Rises 8.2%

Reliance Industries Ltd.'s net profit and revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 rose.

Net profit for the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate rose 8.2% sequentially to Rs 21,243 crore for the January-March period, as compared with a Bloomberg estimate of Rs 19,726.9 crore.

The numbers were backed by strong performance in the oil-to-chemicals and consumer segments that saw double-digit growth during the quarter. Oil and gas segment revenue rose by 42%, with higher volume from the KG-D6 block, the company said.

• Revenue rose 5.6% to Rs 2.37 lakh crore from Rs 2.28 lakh crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 2.4 lakh crore).

• Operating profit was up 4.6% to Rs 42,516 crore from Rs 40,656 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 42,423 crore).

• Operating margin came in at 18% vs 18.06% in the previous quarter (Bloomberg estimate: 17.9%).

• Board recommended a dividend of Rs 10 per share.

Strong demand for fuels globally and limited flexibility in refining system worldwide has supported margin and profitability of the O2C segment, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries.

However, the downstream chemical industry experienced increasingly challenging market conditions through the year, he said.

Despite headwinds, the company managed to give a resilient performance through a mix of feedstock flexibility and cost management, he said.

"We remain committed to our projects and initiatives, including those in the new energy segment, which will bolster the company and help it deliver sustainable growth for the future," Ambani said.

RIL spent Rs 1,31,769 crore, or $15.8 billion, in FY24. The consolidated net debt dropped marginally to Rs 1,16,281 crore as against Rs 1,25,766 crore a year ago.

The company announced a dividend of Rs 10 per share for the year-ended March 2024.

Oil To Chemicals

Segment revenue in the fourth quarter rose by 10.9% YoY to Rs 1,42,634 crore, or $17.1 billion, on account of improved realisation for transportation fuels (petrol and diesel) segment and higher volume.

However, the revenue dropped on a full-year basis by 5% on account of lower product price realisation, following a 13.5% YoY decline in average brent crude oil prices that was partially offset by higher volume.

Segment Ebitda in the fourth quarter rose 3% YoY to Rs 16,777 crore, or $2 billion, supported by advantageous feedstock sourcing, ethane cracking and higher domestic product placement.

"Margin environment was challenging during the quarter and the full year. Fuel cracks fell between 20-25% and the petrochemicals decline was sharp," V Srikanth, chief financial officer of RIL, said in a conference call.

"We optimised the crude basket cost by increasing the sourcing of Latin American crude," Srikanth said.

Oil And Gas

Segment revenue in the fourth quarter rose 42% YoY on account of higher volume partly offset by lower price realisation from the KG D6 field.

The average price realised for KG D6 gas was $9.53/mmBtu in Q4 FY24 versus $11.39/mmBtu in Q4 FY23.

The average price realised for CBM gas was $14.34/mmBtu in Q4 FY24 versus $19.57/mmBtu a year ago.

Sanjay Roy, head of hydrocarbons-exploration and production, said strong Brent crude price and demand from India, China, and South-East Asia will support the global gas market. "Prices have already come back from the lows of $8/mmBtu to $10.5/ mmBtu," Roy said.

The Indian government's focus on natural gas and directive to run gas-based power plants on full capacity are good indicators for the gas industry, Roy said.

Jio Platforms

The segment's operating revenue grew 13.4% YoY to Rs 28,871 crore on account of robust subscriber growth across mobility and homes, and the benefit of mix improvement in average revenue per user.

Segment Ebitda grew 12.5% to Rs 14,360 crore, primarily led by healthy revenue growth and operating leverage, the company said.

Jio Platforms added 10.9 million net subscribers during Q4 FY24, while the monthly churn was 1.5%, it said.

ARPU was Rs 181.7, with better subscriber mix partially offset by increasing mix of promotional 5G traffic, offered unlimited to subscribers and not yet charged separately, the company said.

Total data and voice traffic rose by 35.2% and 9.7% YoY, respectively.

Reliance Retail

Reliance Retail's revenue in Q4 FY24 rose 10.6% YoY to Rs 76,627 crore, led by growth in consumer electronics and fashion and lifestyle division performance.

The business opened 562 new stores, with a gross area addition of 7.8 million sq. ft. in the fourth quarter.

Footfalls rose 24.2% YoY to over 272 million across formats during the quarter. The registered customer base crossed 300 million milestone during the quarter.

Shares of Reliance Industries closed 0.65% higher at Rs 2,960, as compared with a 0.77% rise in the benchmark Sensex. The results were declared after market hours.