Reliance Industries Q2 Results: Profit Falls 20% On Lower Margins, Still Beats Estimates
RIL's Q2 profit fell on lower operating income and margins.
Reliance Industries Ltd.’s second-quarter profit fell on lower operating income and margins. The numbers were, however, better than what analysts expected.
The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate’s consolidated profit declined 20.2% sequentially to Rs 15,512 crore in the quarter ended September, according to its exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 14,456.5-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
RIL Q2 FY23 Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue from operations rose 4% to Rs 2,32,863 crore, against the estimated Rs 2,25,825.5 crore.
Operating profit or earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation fell 17% to Rs 28,416 crore, compared with the Rs 30,335.5-crore forecast.
Operating margin stood at 12.4% versus 15.6% as of June.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries said, the performance of company's oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business reflected subdued demand and weak margin environment across downstream chemical products in the September quarter.
He noted, that, transportation fuel margins in the second quarter of 2022 were better than last year but were significantly lower over the June quarter.
"(O2C) Segment performance was also impacted by the introduction of special additional excise duties (Windfall duties) during the quarter to ensure stable supply and lower volatility in the domestic market," Ambani said.
With regards to consumer businesses, Ambani said, he was pleased by their "record performance" in the second quarter.
"We saw consistent net subscriber additions and higher engagement in digital services segment."
Jio has announced beta trial for the standalone 5G services and is making rapid progress for an ambitious and the fastest ever roll out of True 5G on pan-India basis, Ambani said.
The retail business delivered "record performance" with strong revival in footfalls, store additions and digital integration, he said.
The domestic oil & gas business also delivered a "robust performance". The KG D6 block produced at 19 million metric standard cubic meter per day (MMSCMD) levels in the September quarter. "We are confident of commissioning MJ Fields by year end,” Ambani said.
Oil-To-Chemicals
Operating profit for the O2C segment fell 39.8% sequentially and 5.9% year-on-year to Rs 11968 crore on introduction of windfall levies and lower polymer deltas, the company said. Special additional excise duty related costs during the quarter was Rs 4,039 crore.
Segment revenues for Q2FY23 also dropped 1.3% over the previous quarter to Rs 1,59,671 crore on lower operating margins that dropped by almost half to 7.5% from 12.3% in the previous quarter.
On yearly basis the revenue rose 32.5% on account of higher crude oil prices.
RIL’s production meant for sale was lower by 3.6% year-on-year with planned turnaround of primary and secondary units of SEZ refinery, the company said.
Reliance BP Mobility Ltd., profitability continued to be adversely impacted as retail fuel prices remained capped despite higher benchmark product prices.
Singapore Gasoline spreads fell marginally on year to an average of $8.9/barrel in Q2FY23 from $9.7/barrel a year earlier; but fell more sharply sequentially from $29.8/barrel in Q1FY23, the company said.
Fall in cracks Y-o-Y was due to lower-than-expected summer driving season demand in US amid high pump prices, sustained supply and higher tanker freights leading to local inventories buildup, it said.
Oil & Gas
Segment revenue for the upstream oil and gas business grew 6.3% sequentially and 134% over a year earlier to Rs 3,853 crore in the September quarter.
Operating profit rose 15.9% sequentially and over 196% or three-fold year-on-year to Rs 3,171 crore on the back of higher production and improved gas price realisation from KG-D6 basin.
KG-D6 gas production during Q2FY23 was at 41 billion cubic feet (RIL’s share) against 39.2 BCF production in the year ago period.
Average gas price realized for KG-D6 was at $9.86/million British thermal unit (mBtu) in Q2FY23 vs $3.62/MMBTU a year ago, with raising of gas price ceiling by the government of India for first half of fiscal 2023.
Reliance Retail
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.’s operating income in the second quarter rose 9.98% sequentially on the back of increased spending by customers post improvement in Covid-19 restrictions and with the start of the festive season. The rise was 75.9% year-on-year.
The segment saw 180 million footfalls across formats and geographies in the quarter, a growth of 23% over pre-Covid period, the company said.
Jio Platforms
Jio Platforms Ltd., the holding company for digital ventures and the telecom unit, saw its revenue from operations jump 3.44% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 24,275 crore on higher average revenue per user.
The company saw an increase in average revenue per user of Rs 177.2 in the second quarter, up 3.6% sequentially. That was largely led by an increase in the connectivity business and customer engagements.
Total customer base as on Sept. 30 was 42.76 crore as against 41.99 crore on June 30. Net subscriber addition was at 77 lakh (7.7 million) as gross adds remained at 3.27 crore (32.7 million) in Q2FY23.
Net profit of Jio grew 4.4% sequentially to Rs 4,530 crore.
Shares of Reliance Industries ended 1.16% lower before the results were announced, tracking the 0.18% rise in the benchmark BSE Sensex.