Reliance Retail Q2 Results: Revenue Jumps 11.8% As Footfalls Rebound
The company saw a record 180 million footfalls across formats in Q2, a growth of 23% over pre-Covid levels.
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.’s second-quarter profit rose, gaining from strong demand and higher footfalls with the early onset of the festive season.
Net profit of India’s biggest retailer, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, rose 11.8% over the preceding quarter to Rs 2,305 crore in the three months ended September, according to its parent company Reliance Industries Ltd.'s exchange filing.
Year-on-year, its net profit rose 36% on a low base on account of Covid-19-led disruptions.
Reliance Retail Q2 FY23 Highlights (QoQ)
Gross revenue rose 10.87% to Rs 64,920 crore.
Revenue from operations—net of GST—rose 11.84% to Rs 57,694 crore.
Ebitda rose 9.9% to Rs 4,286 crore—its all-time high.
Margin contracted to 7.4% from 7.6% on higher-priced inventory.
"Our retail business delivered record performance with strong revival in footfalls, store additions and digital integration," Reliance Industries' Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said in a statement.
As consumers returned to stores, the company saw a record 180 million footfalls across formats in Q2, a growth of 23% over pre-Covid levels.
Online sales were also robust with the company delivering 250 million transactions, representing a 45% increase over the previous year.
"All consumption baskets delivered high double-digit like-for-like sales growth on the back of promotional events and festive buying," said Gaurav Jain, head of strategy and business development at Reliance Retail, in a post-earnings call.
"We see consumer spending on discretionary continuing to grow," said Jain.
Other Highlights
Revenue for grocery and pharma segments doubled.
Revenue for consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle were up 40% over the previous year, led by higher bill values.
Digital and new commerce grew 60%, contributing 18% to overall revenue, with daily orders growing 53% year-on-year and merchant base scaling up 2 times.
Within fashion, the partner brands which are mainly premium and luxury brands posted revenue growth of 80% YoY driven by higher footfalls and store openings.
Strong festive sales drove 16% YoY growth in the jewellery segment.
AJIO Luxe, its e-commerce portal in the luxury business, saw a threefold increase in revenues.
Within consumer electronics, own brand sales are up 2.3 times YoY, merchant base increased by 10% over the last quarter.
Jio Mart Digital grew 25% QoQ led by phones and large appliances.
Milkbasket doubled daily subscription order over last year.
The quarter, Jain said, was marked by an operating environment at par with pre-Covid levels as the impact of the pandemic waned. Consumer sentiment remained buoyant across town classes, he said.
Reliance Retail expanded its physical store network with 795 new store openings with an area of 9.2 million sq ft, up 20% quarter-on-quarter, taking the total store count at the end of the quarter to 16,617 stores with an area of 54.5 million sq. ft. This makes Reliance Retail the only Indian retailer with more than 50 million sq ft of retail space under operation.
It also became the first retailer in India to cross an employee base of four lakh employees, adding over 35,000 jobs during the quarter.
"Going ahead, our growth momentum continues with a focus on larger India opportunity through continued store expansion and digital commerce," said Jain.