Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported 15% drop in consolidated net profit (attributable to owners of the company) at Rs 15,792 crore for the quarter ending December 31, 2022 as against Rs 18,549 crore in the year-ago period, hurt by a subdued performance at its dominant oil-to-chemicals business.
In Q2FY22, Mukesh Ambani-led RIL benefited from strong refining margins and demand for fuel.
However, its revenue from operations rose 15% to Rs 2,20,592 crore as compared to Rs 1,91,271 crore in Q3FY22.
On Friday, RIL’s scrip on BSE closed trading 1.1% lower at Rs 2,443.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited said: “Our teams across businesses have done an excellent job in delivering strong operating performance through a challenging environment. All segments contributed to the robust growth in consolidated EBITDA on YoY basis.
“In O2C business, middle distillate product fundamentals remain strong with firm demand, constrained
supply, and high natural gas prices in Europe. Downstream chemical products witnessed margin pressure with excess supply and relatively weak regional demand. Our focus remains on operating safely and reliably producing vital fuel and materials for consumers.
EBITDA increased by 13.5% YoY to Rs 38,460 crore, on account of:
* Strong growth in subscriber base and 17.5% increase in ARPU in Digital Services Segment.
* Growth across consumption baskets, addition of new stores and rising contribution from digital channels in Retail segment.
* Improvement in middle distillate cracks, partially offset by weak downstream chemical margins and SAED related costs in O2C segment.
* Higher gas price realisation with increase in ceiling price, and marginally higher volumes in
the Oil & Gas segment.
In its outlook, RIL said:
* Middle Distillate cracks to remain firm on lower inventories, seasonal demand, and impending loss of Russian oil products.
* Petrochemical feedstock price volatility likely to continue amidst uncertain geopolitical situation,
recessionary trends in developed economies i.e., high inflation coupled with high interest rate in USA & EU market.
* Polyester demand expected to improve with upcoming wedding season in domestic market and shift in China’s Zero COVID policy.
* Economic headwind due to rising interest rates and contracting PMIs pose downside risk to oil demand growth.
“Jio delivered record revenues and EBITDA driven by strong momentum in customer growth and data consumption. This quarter we launched True 5G services. It is now available in 134 cities and towns in India. Retail business had another quarter of strong progress with more Indians choosing to shop at Reliance Retail stores. Our upstream business delivered robust growth with sustained production from KG D6 block along with higher realisation,” said Ambani.