RIL Q1 Results: Revenue, Net Profit Decline In Line With Estimates; Jio ARPU At Rs 181.7

"The deep integration and flexibility built into our O2C business model helped mitigate the impact of challenging operating environment. The business was impacted by lower fuel cracks with tepid global demand and ramp-up of new refineries. The oil and gas segment continued its growth trajectory with higher production, offsetting lower year-on-year gas price realizations."

Anshuman Thakur, non-executive director said the following:

• 5G accounts for 31% of total data traffic.

• Fixed wireless business crossed 1 million subscribers.

• Air Fibre demand coming from not just tier 1 but tier 2 and 3 cities as well.

• Tariff hikes may have some transient impact but will strengthen the overall sector in the long run.

• Business delivered steady performance during the quarter with revenue of Rs 75,615 crore, up 8.1% Y-o-Y.

• Reported EBITDA at Rs 5,664 crore which was up by 10.5% Y-o-Y, led by increase in footfalls and expansion of store footprint, streamlining of operations driving margin improvement.

• EBITDA before Investment Income was at Rs 5,448 crore, a growth of 11.5% Y-o-Y.

• Depreciation increased on account of higher asset base due to addition of new stores.

• Finance cost declined on account of repayment of borrowings.

• Jio Platforms’ EBIDTA for quarter ended June 2024 increased by 11.6% Y-o-Y to Rs 14,638 crore.

• Jio’s net profit for the quarter grew 11.7% Y-o-Y to Rs 5,698 crore.

• Jio continued to lead the industry and gain subscriber share with 80 lakh net additions in the June quarter to 48.97 crore. JioAirFiber drove the highest ever quarterly home connects for Jio with over 11 lakh net additions.

• Jio’s ARPU was Rs 181.7 with better subscriber mix, partially offset by increasing mix of promotional 5G traffic being offered on an unlimited basis to subscribers and not charged separately.

• Jio’s customer engagement levels continued to remain strong with total data traffic increasing by 32.8% to 44.1 billion GB, and voice traffic increasing 6% Y-o-Y to 1.42 trillion minutes.

• Jio is the largest 5G operator outside China with around 13 crore 5G subscribers accounting for over 31% of Jio’s wireless data traffic. The entire 5G data is being carried on Jio’s own 5G+4G combo core.

“Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter improved from a year ago with strong contribution from Consumer and Upstream businesses offsetting weak O2C operating environment... The digital services business registered an impressive financial performance year-on-year, continuing its positive growth momentum.... Retail business delivered robust financial results, as compared to last year, well supported by all consumption baskets."