RIL Q1 Revenue jumps 25% to ₹3.11 lakh crore; EBITDA hits record ₹47,517 crore
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Reliance Industries reported a strong Q1 FY27, with gross revenue rising 24.5% year-on-year to ₹3.40 lakh crore, driven by robust performance in the O2C and Jio segments. Despite a 22.4% decline in attributable profit due to last year's one-time gains and increased costs, recurring PAT before minority interests rose 6.1%. Overall, the results exceeded market expectations, indicating resilience in key sectors amidst challenging conditions.
Reliance Industries outperformed street expectations in Q1 FY27, with gross revenue rising 24.5 per cent year-on-year to ₹3.40 lakh crore and EBITDA increasing 10.7 per cent to a record ₹47,517 crore. Growth was driven by stronger fuel cracks and chemical margins in the O2C business, alongside subscriber additions and margin expansion at Jio.
Reported attributable profit declined 22.4 per cent to ₹20,946 crore, primarily because the corresponding quarter last year included the one-time gain from the Asian Paints stake sale. Higher finance costs and depreciation charges also weighed on earnings. Meanwhile, retail EBITDA fell 1.1 per cent as the company continued to invest in scaling its digital commerce business.
Revenue from operations increased 25.4 per cent to ₹3,11,850 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹2,48,660 crore a year earlier, exceeding Bloomberg’s estimate of ₹2,98,716 crore. Recurring EBITDA was above Bloomberg’s forecast of ₹46,660 crore, while attributable profit came in higher than the consensus estimate of ₹19,987 crore.
On a recurring basis, PAT before minority interests rose 6.1 per cent to a record ₹23,196 crore, compared with an adjusted ₹21,859 crore in Q1 FY26.
“Strong O2C margins and resilient Jio growth powered Reliance’s quarter, offsetting weakness in retail and lingering pressure in the Upstream business,” said Maulik Patel, Head of Research, Equirus Securities. Further adding, Kranthi Bathini, Director, Equity Strategy at WealthMills Securities, said, “Reliance Industries has given a good set of numbers with good growth in its main sectors, such as OTC and Jio. OTC particularly was expected to lag this quarter, but it is back on track, in a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
The O2C segment delivered its strongest performance in several years. Revenue surged 30.4 per cent to ₹2,01,803 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹1,54,804 crore in the year-ago quarter, while EBITDA rose 17.2 per cent to ₹17,010 crore from ₹14,511 crore. The improvement was fuelled by a 2.5-to-4.5-fold increase in fuel cracks, while downstream chemical margins climbed to three-to-four-year highs, more than offsetting lower production during a planned maintenance turnaround.
Jio Platforms continued to strengthen its earnings profile, with gross revenue rising 12 per cent to ₹45,961 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹41,054 crore a year earlier. EBITDA grew 15.1 per cent to ₹20,865 crore, while margin expanded 150 basis points (bps) to 53.3 per cent from 51.8 per cent. Notably, digital-services revenue grew 20 per cent year-on-year, significantly outpacing the 11 per cent growth in connectivity services. The momentum was driven by content, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and managed services, underscoring Jio’s increasing diversification beyond traditional telecom. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) increased 3.3 per cent to ₹215.6, compared with ₹208.8 in the corresponding quarter last year.
Reliance Retail reported revenue of ₹90,408 crore, up 7.4 per cent from ₹84,172 crore in Q1 FY26. Adjusted for the Reliance Consumer Products demerger, gross revenue increased 11.6 per cent. However, EBITDA edged down to ₹6,309 crore from ₹6,381 crore, with margins contracting 80 basis points to 7.9 per cent from 8.7 per cent. The decline reflected continued investments in expanding the digital commerce business, which pressured profitability despite healthy revenue growth.
Meanwhile, the oil and gas business reported a marginal decline in EBITDA, which slipped 0.5 per cent to ₹4,973 crore from ₹4,996 crore a year ago. Capital expenditure rose 29.5 per cent to ₹38,682 crore in Q1 FY27 from ₹29,875 crore a year earlier. Despite the higher spending, capex was fully funded by cash profit of ₹41,254 crore. Net debt declined 1.4 per cent to ₹1,22,914 crore at the end of June, compared with ₹1,24,717 crore at the end of March, reflecting the company’s continued balance-sheet discipline.
Original Article
Published on Hindu BusinessLine