Reliance’s September-quarter profit rose 22% sequentially as a sharp recovery in oil-to-chemicals and continued digital growth offset weaker retail and oil and gas results.
Reliance Industries Ltd. posted a stronger-than-expected September-quarter showing, lifted by a sharp rebound in its oil-to-chemicals arm and continued growth in digital services, even as retail and oil and gas lagged. According to the company’s results and reports carried by NDTV Profit, consolidated net profit rose 22% from the previous quarter to Rs 25,548 crore, while consolidated Ebitda increased 19% to Rs 56,616 crore. Revenue climbed 6.8% to Rs 3.31 lakh crore, and the Ebitda margin widened to 17.1% from 15.4% in the June quarter.
The biggest driver was the oil-to-chemicals business, which delivered a 67.9% rise in Ebitda from a year earlier to Rs 25,203 crore. NDTV Profit said the improvement reflected stronger fuel cracks, firmer global energy markets and more favourable crude sourcing, alongside better pricing in downstream chemicals. The segment’s recovery was enough to offset softer performance elsewhere in the group and helped Reliance beat analyst estimates on both profit and revenue.
Digital services also remained a key support. Reliance said Ebitda from the division rose 17.7% from a year earlier to Rs 22,223 crore, as higher subscriber additions, rising average revenue per user and heavier data consumption all supported performance. Jio Platforms reported net profit of Rs 8,389 crore, up 8% sequentially, with revenue of Rs 40,475 crore and Ebitda of Rs 20,901 crore. Its margin expanded to 51.6%, reflecting stronger operating leverage as the business continued to scale.
Jio’s customer metrics pointed to a business still gaining traction. The average revenue per user rose to Rs 218.8 a month from Rs 215.6 in the previous quarter, while the subscriber base reached 542.4 million. More than 300 million of those users were on 5G, and data traffic increased 22.1% from a year earlier, according to the company. The figures underline how Reliance is using network scale and faster data adoption to support earnings growth even as the telecom market remains competitive.
By contrast, retail was under pressure. Reliance Retail’s net profit fell 6.67% sequentially to Rs 2,619 crore, while Ebitda slipped 3% to Rs 6,120 crore, and the margin narrowed to 6.67%. The company continued to rationalise its store base, opening 303 locations but closing weaker outlets for a net reduction of 222 stores, leaving 19,947 outlets in total. Yet customer transactions still increased 7% from a year earlier, and JioMart posted revenue growth of 42% on stronger order values and a 24% rise in units per order.
The oil and gas unit was another weak spot, with Ebitda down 1.5% from a year earlier to Rs 4,901 crore as lower output from the KG-D6 fields offset gains from coal-bed methane and better condensate realisations. Even so, Reliance ended the quarter with lower net debt of Rs 1.17 lakh crore, down from Rs 1.23 lakh crore in June, while capital expenditure remained heavy at Rs 38,153 crore. The company continued to direct investment towards new energy, retail and oil-to-chemicals projects, signalling that management is still leaning into long-term expansion even as investors watch for durability in the current earnings momentum.
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