RIL consolidated profit surges 13.5% to record Rs 11,640 cr in Q3 on strong growth in telecom, retail verticals

Reliance Industries on Friday reported a record jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 11,640 crore in the third quarter ended 31 December 2019, up by 13.5 percent, on the back of robust growth in telecom and retail verticals.RIL's net profit during the October-December period stood at Rs 11,640 crore, as compared to Rs 10,251 crore profit in the same period a year back. Consolidated revenue, however, dipped 1.4 percent to Rs 168,858 crore, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said in a statement.Consumer businesses, which till last year accounted for a quarter of RIL's pre-tax profit, contributed a third of EDITDA in the third quarter.[caption id="attachment_4368063" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. Reuters.[/caption]Retail business EBITDA rose 58 percent to Rs 2,389 crore while telecom arm Jio posted a net profit of Rs 1,350 crore.Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ended 31 December 2019 was Rs 18.4 as against Rs 17.3 in the corresponding period of the previous year.Outstanding debt as on 31 December 2019 was Rs 306,851 crore ($43.0 billion) compared to Rs 287,505 crore as on March 31, 2019.Cash and cash equivalents as on 31 December 2019, were at Rs 153,719 crore ($ 21.5 billion) compared to Rs 133,027 crore as on 31 March 2019.The capital expenditure for the third quarter was Rs 14,015 crore ($ 2.0 billion) including exchange rate difference.Exports (including deemed exports) from RIL’s India operations were lower by 13.7 percent at Rs 53,804 crore ($ 7.5 billion) as against Rs 62,378 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year due to lower price realization from petrochemical and refining business.Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL, said, "The third-quarter results for our energy business reflects the weak global economic environment and volatility in energy markets. Within our O2C chain, downstream petrochemicals profitability was impacted by weak margins across products with subdued demand in well-supplied markets. Refining segment performance improved in a difficult operating environment given our continuous focus on cost positions, high operating rates and product placement."Other expenditure increased by 1.2 percent to Rs 21,202 crore ($ 3.0 billion) as against Rs 20,957 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year primarily due to higher network operating and regulatory & access charges.Segment EBITDA increased by 4.7 percent to Rs 23,500 crore ($3.3 billion) from Rs 22,449 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The increase in Segment EBITDA was led by strong performance in retail (62.3 percent), digital services (43.5 percent) and refining (11.7 percent) businesses.(Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost)