The consolidated net profit of Reliance Industries Ltd rose 30.6 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2020-21 to ₹13,248 crore from ₹10,141 crore in the first quarter a year-ago.
The profit growth was bolstered by an exceptional item of ₹4,966 crore as profit on divestment of stake in the domestic fuel retailing business — Reliance BP Mobility Services Ltd — that helped compensate for the pandemic-triggered demand destruction across its businesses, except digital services.
Revenue from operations in the first quarter declined 42 per cent to ₹1,00,929 crore from ₹1,74,087 crore a year earlier. The decline was primarily due to the fall in oil/chemicals revenues on the back of a sharp 57.6 per cent decline in the average Brent crude price. The gross refining margins — what a refiner earns by turning a barrel of crude oil into refined products — fell to $6.3 from $8.1 per barrel a year ago. The crude throughput declined to 16.6 million tonnes from 17.5 MMT a year ago.
Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJio) posted a net profit of ₹2,520 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, an 182.8 per cent rise from the ₹891 crore recorded during the same period a year ago. The company’s standalone income from operations, including access revenues, rose 33.7 per cent to ₹16,557 crore (₹12,383 crore).
The retail business registered a 17 per cent decline in revenues to ₹31,633 crore from ₹38,216 crore last year due to the lockdowns and the restrictions in store operations.
The petrochemicals business reported a 30 per cent decline in revenue to ₹25,192 crore (₹37,611 crore) hit by lower price realisations due to Covid disruptions in local and regional markets. The throughput in petrochemicals rose marginally to 8.9 mt from 8.7 mt a year earlier.
Digital boost
Overall, the decline in revenue was partially offset by an increase in the income of the digital services business with strong subscriber addition and significant improvement in the average revenue per user (ARPU) to ₹140.3, the company said in a statement.
The demand destruction impacted our hydrocarbons business but the flexibility in our operations enabled us to operate at near-normal levels
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