RIL Q2 net profit falls 6.6%; digital services, retail drive sales

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) posted a net profit of Rs 10,602 crore in the July-September quarter, which is 6.6 per cent lower than the same quarter last year. Total income of Reliance Industries stood at Rs 1.2 lakh crore against Rs 1.56 lakh crore in Q2 FY20, according to the BSE filing. The company’s net profit took a hit while expenses also fell in the second quarter. The company’s expenses fell to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in Q2 this fiscal, compared to Rs 1.41 lakh crore in the same quarter previous year.  

Segment revenue

Apart from financial services and digital services, the revenue from all other segments fell on-year in Q2. The revenue from petrochemicals fell 23 per cent, refining fell 36 per cent, oil & gas fell 55 per cent, and retail fell 4.9 per cent on-year. On the brighter side, digital services rose 35.6 per cent and financial services surged 12 per cent on-year.

Commenting on the result, RIL Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani said that the company delivered strong overall operational and financial performance compared to the previous quarter with a recovery in the petrochemicals and retail segment, and sustained growth in the Digital Services business. Domestic demand has sharply recovered across our O2C business and is now near the pre-Covid level for most products, Mukesh Ambani added. Retail business activity has normalised with strong growth in key consumption baskets as lockdowns ease across the country, he further said.

While the coronavirus pandemic has severely disturbed many businesses, the same is not the case with Reliance Industries. RIL received a flood of investments from global companies in recent months. Jio Platforms raised Rs 1.52 lakh crore from leading global investors including Facebook, Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, PIF, Intel Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures. On the other hand, Reliance Retail Ventures raised Rs 37,710 crore of investments from leading global investors including Silver Lake, KKR, General Atlantic, Mubadala, GIC, TPG, and ADIA.

Meanwhile, RIL highlighted that it has supported job creation in the economy during the pandemic-impacted period. It added that the company has generated in excess of 30,000 new jobs during April – September 2020 in consumer businesses and last-mile delivery.