- The Mukesh Ambani owned conglomerate, Reliance Industries, has more than doubled its net profits in the final quarter of 2021 despite the pressures of the pandemic as compared to the same quarter last year.
- Retail is leading the growth, but oil is continuing to struggle and Jio looks like it needs to figure out how to mint more money.
- Investors have a reason to cheer with the company announcing a dividend of ₹7 per share.
A big chunk of Mukesh Ambani’s businesses are not doing as well as expected, but his company, Reliance Industries, has still managed to double its net profit between January and March this year, as compared to the same time last year.
While the oil to chemical vertical saw a growth of 4.5% in revenue, the profit shrunk by just as much despite a one-time gain of ₹4,420 crore from sale of its petrol pumps. “The increase in revenue was primarily due to higher volumes in transportation fuels and better price realisations,” the company statement said.
The shares of RIL are up/down 17% since September 2020. Investment bank Goldman Sachs had expected a rebound in the oil to chemical vertical but that seems to have fallen short of expectation. These are segment wise results:
| Segment | Operating profit growth Jan-March 2021 vs year earlier |
| Oil to chemical | -4.6% |
| Oil to gas | 122% |
| Retail | 50.24% |
| Digital services (Jio) | 31.73% |
| Financial services | -59% |
| Others | -33.21% |
Meanwhile, Reliance Jio has reported a profit decline of nearly 4% with net profit of ₹3,508 crore. Jio added over 15 million new subscribers between January to March, after a disappointing December quarter.
But most of them are low-paying users, who use Jio as a second phone for cheaper plans. That means most people still look at their Jio sim cards as a secondary option — not their primary point of contact.
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