Companies Economy Live April 25, 2025 0 Comments

Led by digital and retail, RIL posts 2.4% rise in Q4 profit

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries, the first Indian company to cross ₹10 lakh crore networth, beat street estimates in the fourth quarter with a surge in its retail and digital services revenue that offset the weakness in the oils-to-chemicals business.

The conglomerate reported 2.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to ₹19,407 crore and revenue from operations was 10 per cent higher at ₹2.65 lakh crore in the quarter.

An increase in subscriber base and the continued impact of its tariff hike saw Jio Platform’s revenues rise 17.8 per cent while Reliance Retail Ventures’ rose 15.7 per cent with growth across consumption categories.

“FY2025 has been a challenging year for the global business environment, with weak macro-economic conditions and a shifting geopolitical landscape,” said Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.

“Our focus on operational discipline, customer-centric innovation and fulfilling India’s growth requirements has helped Reliance deliver a steady financial performance during the year,” he said.

EBITDA up

Overall EBITDA rose 3.6 per cent, largely due to retail and digital performance.

The capex for the quarter was at ₹36,041 crore ($4.2 billion), taking its total capex for the year to $15.3 billion. It ended the year with a gross debt of ₹3.5 lakh crore, slightly higher than year ago.

The O2C business performed of RIL performed better than its global peers reporting and reported a 15.4 per cent rise in revenue but at the operating level there was a fall of 10 per cent due to weak fuel cracks and polyester chain deltas, both of which saw significant declines.

Fuel cracks are at below 5-year average and RIL attributed it to weak demand from the EU and China.

Oil to chemicals biz

“The Oil to Chemicals business posted a resilient performance despite considerable volatility in energy markets. Significant demand-supply imbalances in downstream chemicals markets have led to multi-year low margins. Our business teams ensured optimization of integrated operations and feedstock costs to enhance margin capture across value chains,” said Ambani.

With subscriber base of over 488 million and average revenue per user crossing Rs 206 in the quarter, Jio was a hefty contributor to the overall revenue of RIL.

EBITDA saw an increase of 18.5 per cent on year and operating margin was 40 bps higher at 50.1 per cent.

The company has been consistently adding to its 5G subscriber base, with 45 per cent of its users on 5G network.

Despite challenges in consumption Reliance Retail turned in a creditable performance with a growth rebound in the quarter. The quarter was marked by quick commerce services under Jio Mart.

Ambani said the foundation had been laid for its projects in renewable energy and battery operations. “In the coming quarters, we will see the transition of this business from incubation to operationalization,” he added.

Dividend

The company has recommended a dividend of ₹5.50 per share and also approved raising up to ₹25,000 crore through the issue of non-convertible debentures.