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Reliance Q2 Results: A Quick & Easy Analysis

India’s largest company by market capitalization, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has declared its second-quarter results for FY22. The conglomerate reported total revenue from operations of Rs 1,74,104 crore, an increase of 50% year-on-year (YoY). RIL’s net profit increased by a massive 43% YoY (or 11% QoQ) to Rs 13,680 crore. The figures have beaten all street estimates. In today’s article, we discuss how RIL and its various segments have performed in Q2 FY22.

Digital Services 

Jio Platforms Ltd reported total revenue of Rs 19,777 crore in Q2, compared to Rs 18,952 crore reported in the previous quarter. The net profit witnessed a 23.5% YoY (or 0.6% QoQ) increase to Rs 3,728 crore. There was a net decline in Jio’s customer base by 11.1 million due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on low-end customers. Many users were unable to recharge due to financial difficulties. As of September 2021, the total customer base stood at 429.5 million users. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) grew sequentially from Rs 138.4 to Rs 143.6 in this quarter. 

All figures except EBITDA Margin in Rs crore

There has been an improvement in subscriber mix and increased customer engagement levels. Total data traffic during the quarter increased by 51% YoY to reach 2,300 crore gigabytes (GB). The Covid-19 pandemic has forced most of us to get on digital platforms. Jio Fibre has over 4 million connected premises now. Also, JioMeet is now used extensively for conducting online meetings by many large enterprises, healthcare companies, and government institutions. 

Reliance Jio has maintained its top position in the 4G speed chart with a 20.9 Mbps average download speed in September 2021. The company is working with tech giant Google to make JioPhone Next (a highly affordable smartphone) available in time for the Diwali festive season.

Reliance Retail  

The retail segment of RIL was one of the hardest hit in the previous financial year due to nationwide lockdowns. But as restrictions have eased and vaccination rates are up, Reliance Retail has delivered a strong performance in Q2. The segment poised a 74% YoY growth in net profit to Rs 1,695 crore in Q2 FY22. Its revenue increased by 10.5% YoY (or 17.8% QoQ) to Rs 45,426 crore. 

All figures except EBITDA Margin in Rs crore

RIL’s retail business recorded higher store operating days at 89% in Q2, compared to 61% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, footfalls (number of people entering shops) recovered to 78% of pre-Covid levels. The Fashion & Lifestyle business delivered record performance with the highest ever quarterly revenues. Consumer electronics and grocery divisions maintained strong growth momentum during the quarter. JioMart’s reach has extended to 249 cities with the launch of new stores and fulfillment centers.  

During the quarter, 813 new stores were launched, taking the total count to 13,635. Reliance Retail also commissioned 86 warehouses and fulfillment centres across an area of 2.5 million sq ft. to improve its service capabilities. They acquired Milkbasket (a subscription-based grocery delivery platform) and Portico (a home styling solutions brand). Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd’s (RRVL) acquisition of JustDial will add value to its merchant partners. You may have also come across reports of RRVL entering into a master franchise agreement with US-based 7-Eleven Inc. to launch convenience stores across India.

Oil-to-Chemical (O2C) 

The Oil-to-Chemical arm of Reliance performed well as a result of improved realisation on the back of an increase in oil prices and higher volumes. The segment posted a 58% YoY (or 16.7% QoQ) increase in revenue to Rs 1,20,475 crore in Q2. Earnings before Interest, Tax Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) rose 44% YoY to Rs 12,720 crore. Last quarter, this number was at Rs 12,231 crore. The surge in the global demand for refining and petrochemical products has also aided growth in this segment.

Figures in Rs crore

To Sum Up 

RIL’s other segments such as Oil & Gas and Media had performed exceedingly well in the July-Sept quarter of FY22. Revenue of the Oil & Gas segment jumped 363.1% YoY to Rs 1,644 crore due to a 23% rise in production in Q2. Meanwhile, the media vertical’s revenue rose 31% YoY to Rs 1,387 crore, aided by a good recovery in advertisement sales. 

The sharp recovery in the retail segment, along with sustained growth in the O2C and digital services business has helped RIL post better-than-expected results. Reliance Retail’s rapid expansion of both physical stores and digital offerings has resulted in healthy growth of revenues and margins. Jio continues to hold a top position in 4G coverage and availability. The company has kickstarted 5G field trials at various locations. RIL continues to focus on green energy initiatives through strategic partnerships with multiple firms. 

“I am pleased that Reliance has posted a strong performance in 2QFY22. This demonstrates the inherent strengths of our businesses and the robust recovery of the Indian and global economies,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director at RIL.

You can find RIL’s media release for its Q2 results here. What are your opinions on Reliance Industries? Do you think that they will grow even faster in the coming quarters? Let us know in the comments section of the marketfeed app.

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Editorial

Reliance set for another Bull Rally? Oil Business Split and Aramco Rumours

The biggest private company in India, Reliance, came out with a major update regarding its future. The Mukesh Ambani led organisation announced that it has begun the process to move its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business into an independent subsidiary. Currently, we know Reliance as the telecom market leader with the aid of Jio. But, Reliance’s core business remains to be in the oil and refinery sector. 

With this announcement, the company will shift all of its refining, marketing and petrochemical assets to the O2C subsidiary. As of now, Reliance will retain 100% management control in this new subsidiary but we believe that soon this percentage will dropdown. Another big news from their house is that this new subsidiary will get a $25 billion loan from the parent company. This will be an interest-bearing loan that will be paid by the O2C subsidiary to the parent company. This is a normal practice in the world of finance and business. You can imagine it as something like getting a loan from your father with a promise to pay it back after a few years.

The importance of O2C business often undermined because of the rapid rise of Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail. But just for the perspective, 60% of Reliance’s revenue last fiscal year came from its O2C business. To understand more about how Reliance can generate its numbers, click here.

Imminent stake sale of O2C business

Last year, they amassed $27 billion from global investors like Google, Facebook and many others by selling stakes in their subsidiaries. Currently, Reliance holds an 85.1% stake in Reliance Retail and a 67.3% stake in Jio Platforms. With the advent of a new subsidiary, we can expect a possible stake sale in the new O2C subsidiary. The market believes that one of the most possible reason behind this hiving off is to attract investments from other companies. One such organisation which is reported to buy 20% stake in Reliance O2C business is Saudi Aramco. 

Saudi Aramco is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company. It is one of the biggest companies in the world and the biggest company in the oil business. If Reliance can bring Saudi Aramco to their table, it will be a huge boost for their O2C business operations.

Mergers & acquisitions, demergers, investments, etc are very complicated deals. Months of due diligence is required before the conclusion of any such deal. It was in 2019 when for the first time the market heard the rumours of Saudi Aramco investing in Reliance. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year, this deal stalled off and since the start of the year, we didn’t hear much about it. 

Now, with this mega move, we believe that a deal with Saudi Aramco might be wrapped soon. As said earlier, having a global player on your table will help you massively. Saudi Aramco, being the biggest company in this domain, will share their expertise and generate benefits from the second-highest populated country in the world.

The O2C business includes a 51:49 joint venture with British Petroleum (BP) in Reliance BP Mobility. Currently, Reliance holds around 1,400 outlets but plan it to expand to 5,500 retail outlets in the next five years.

A New Look for Reliance?

We have reported earlier as well that Mukesh Ambani wants his organisation to lead India’s fight to clean energy. In September 2020, he said, “We are working towards the transformation of energy. And we think again that the world is right and India is in the right mindset to completely, in the next few decades, move away from fossil fuels to completely renewable energy.”

By turning O2C into a separate subsidiary, Reliance will have more space to focus on green and clean energy. This hiving off will not dilute Reliance’s earnings or restrict their cash flows. In their presentation, the company also stated that it will accelerate hydrogen production and invest in carbon capture. Thus, aiming to convert carbon dioxide into products and chemicals which can be valuable for them and society.

Let’s see how this internal reorganisation will play for the company in the near future. But, as of now, we think that this might turn to be another positive decision from Mukesh Ambani & company.

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Reliance to Spin-Off Oil-to-Chemicals Segment With $25 Billion Loan – Top Indian Market News

Reliance to spin-off Oil-to-Chemicals segment with $25 billion loan

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) announced that it has initiated the process of carving out its Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) business into an independent subsidiary. RIL will retain 100% management control in the subsidiary. It has also extended an interest-bearing loan of $25 billion (~Rs 1.81 lakh crore) to the O2C business. RIL expects to receive necessary approvals for the reorganisation by the second quarter of FY 2021-22.

Read more here.

Cochin Shipyard secures Rs 10,000 crore order from Indian Navy

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has been declared as the lowest (L1) bidder by the Ministry of Defence for the construction of six next-generation missile vessels for the Indian Navy. The estimated value of the order is Rs 10,000 crore. The final announcement of the contract will be subject to the satisfactory completion of necessary formalities.

Read more here.

Amazon India partners with Mahindra Electric to deploy 10,000 EVs for delivery

Amazon India has partnered with Mahindra Electric to deploy 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in its local delivery fleet by 2025. Mahindra’s electric three-wheeler, Treo Zor, is already used by Amazon’s delivery service partners in seven cities, including New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. This is part of Amazon.com Inc’s commitment to having 100,000 EVs in its global delivery fleet by 2030.

Read more here.

Fire breaks out at UPL’s Jhagadia plant in Gujarat

UPL Limited announced that a serious fire broke out at its Jhagadia plant (in Gujarat) in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The company’s emergency team and the local fire brigade brought the massive fire under control. UPL confirmed that two people were killed and around 26 have been injured. It was reported that the fire may have been caused due to an electric short circuit.

Read more here.

Adani Enterprises forms joint venture with EdgeConneX to develop data centres in India

Adani Enterprises has formed a 50:50 joint venture with US-based data centre operator EdgeConneX to build data parks in India. AdaniConneX JV has started the development of hyperscale facilities in Chennai, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Vizag, and Hyderabad. It will also develop scalable edge data centres across India.

Read more here.

Bharti Airtel partners with Qualcomm for 5G rollout in India

Bharti Airtel has partnered with US-based Qualcomm Technologies for accelerating 5G services in India. The telecom company will utilise Qualcomm 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) platforms to roll-out virtualised and Open RAN-based 5G networks. Recently, Airtel became India’s first telco to demonstrate 5G over a live commercial network in Hyderabad.

Read more here.

Bharat Forge receives order worth Rs 178 crore from Defence Ministry

Bharat Forge has received an order worth Rs 177.95 crore from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the supply of Kalyani M4 armoured vehicles to the Indian Army. As per reports, the contract from MoD entails the production of 200 Kalyani M4 vehicles under emergency procurement protocols. On Monday, Bharat Forge had signed an agreement with South Africa-based Paramount Group to manufacture Kalyani M4 vehicles in India.

Read more here.

Heranba Industries IPO subscribed 85% on first day of bidding

The Rs 625-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Heranba Industries was subscribed 85% on the first day of bidding. The issue received bids for 58.76 lakh equity shares against an offer size of 69.81 lakh shares. The portion reserved for retail investors was subscribed 1.64 times. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors (NIIs) witnessed a subscription of 9%. 

To know more about the IPO, click here.

Zuari Agro Chemicals to sell Goa unit to Pradeep Phosphates for $280 million

Zuari Agro Chemical’s board has approved the sale of the company’s fertilizer plant in Goa and associated businesses to Pradeep Phosphates Ltd. The unit will be sold on a slump sale basis for an agreed enterprise value of $280 million (~Rs 2,030 crore). The business transfer agreement will be executed by the end of February 2021.

Gayatri Projects receives LoA for NHAI road project worth Rs 1,323 crore

Gayatri Projects Limited has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project worth Rs 1,323.5 crore. The order includes the development of six-lane access-controlled roads in the Uttar Pradesh portion of the Delhi-Saharanpur Highway. The project comes under the Economic Corridor in Phase-1 of the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Sun Pharma to launch complete range of generic anti-epilepsy drug

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said it plans to launch a complete range of anti-epilepsy drug- Brivaracetam in India. The drug is indicated for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients 16 years of age and older with epilepsy. Sun Pharma introduced Brevipil (Brivaracetam) tablet in the strengths of 25 mg/50 mg/75 mg/100 mg on Feb 21. 

Read more here.

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Editorial

Reliance NextGen: Who after Mukesh Ambani?

Reliance has turned into an empire within a span of a few decades. Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries, is now the world’s 6th richest man. At the age of 63, he has taken Reliance to the heights one can only dream of. The oil-to-telecom company has a strong grip in several sectors, thus becoming a very important entity from the nation’s perspective. That is why the question of who after Mukesh Ambani is important.

Mukesh Ambani will be hoping that his family has a shared vision for Reliance’s future. Thus, learning from the lessons he learnt from the rivalry with his brother after the death of their father, Dhirubhai Ambani at the age of 69 years. He will be hoping that nothing of that sort happens in his family. To make this happen, it is important for him to process a seamless transition of Reliance into the new hands. Before that, let’s have a look at the family of this Indian business tycoon and try to understand the possible heirs of his business.

Mukesh and Nita Ambani have three kids. Anant Ambani (25) is the youngest of three children. Akash Ambani (29) and Isha Ambani (29) are the older twins who were born in 1991. All three children are working at Reliance in senior posts. Probably, Mukesh Ambani will be passing the baton to them as he prepares Reliance for the NextGen.

Ambani Family | marketfeed

Isha Ambani and Reliance Retail

Isha received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and South Asian studies from the prestigious Yale University. She went on to do her MBA from Stanford University. She also has experience working at McKinsey & Company in New York before joining Reliance. 

Isha joined the family’s telecom and retail businesses as a director in 2014. As per the rumours, she is the one who gave her father the idea to launch Reliance Jio in 2016 after facing problems with slow internet speed. It is widely believed that she has been a central figure for the latest developments in the Jio and Reliance Retail segment over the past two years.

She was one of the lead negotiators in the deal through which Facebook acquired a 9.99% stake in Jio for Rs 43,574 crore. Along with her brother, Akash Ambani, she flew to the US in December last year for the negotiations. The trust in Isha’s leadership can be seen from the fact that it was she and not her father who announced Reliance Retail’s deal with Future Retail. She is likely to lead Reliance Retail in the future.

Akash Ambani and Reliance Jio

After completing his schooling in India, Akash went to the US to get his undergraduate degree in Economics. Just like Isha, Akash also joined his father’s company in 2014. Currently, he is the Director and Head of Strategy and a member of the Executive Committee at Reliance Jio.

Akash played a key role in completing Jio’s recent mega-deals with big tech companies like Google, Qualcomm and Intel. He is more involved in the digital services applications side of Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail. Apart from business, Akash has a keen interest in sports. This can be seen by his huge involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian Super League (ISL).

Reliance’s 43rd AGM showed how the two twins were launching the new Jio products. This tells that the future of tech-related Reliance adventures will be in the hands of these youngsters. Recently, Isha and Akash Ambani debuted in the technology list of Fortune’s ‘40 Under 40’ list of influential people around the globe.

Anant Ambani and Petrochemicals

Anant is the youngest of the three siblings. He followed his elder brother Akash and went to Brown University in the US to pursue his graduation. He made headlines after losing 108 kg in 18 months

Anant Ambani currently serves as an Additional Director on the board of Jio. More of his contribution has come in social and foundational work at the Jamnagar refinery. He was the one to represent the Ambanis when they handed over Rs 5 crore towards Maharashtra flood relief work. After taking care of his health in recent years, Anant might now be pushed to work at significant roles at Reliance, just like her other two siblings.

Interestingly, Reliance’s annual report 2019-20 consists of pictures of all three siblings in the Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio domain but the Refining & Marketing (R&M) and Petrochemicals segments consist only of Anant’s image. This might be due to the involvement of the youngest one in the core business of Reliance, which is oil & gas.

At the Reliance at 40 years celebration, Anant Ambani also presented himself as one who deeply loves the environment. We can’t help but wonder if Anant Ambani is the force behind Reliance’s shifting to renewable energy from Petrochemicals. You can read all about it here.

Reliance and India’s Future

The Indian business tycoon, Mukesh Ambani, has huge faith that his children will be taking Reliance even higher. Trusting and bestowing responsibility to the youth in their 20s shows that the power decisions of Reliance will be taken by the Ambanis in the future as well. These NextGen stars are well aware of the changing environment of the world. They are expected to come up with more innovative ideas and execute them with more efficiency to maintain the legacy of Reliance in future years.

Reliance Industries is at a crossroads. They are venturing rapidly into different sectors. Also, they are planning to expand massively in the technology segment. Another domain where Reliance will move is into the renewable energy sector. These changes will be led by the three children of Mukesh and Nita Ambani. Will they be able to match the legacy of their father? Can they take the Reliance brand to even higher highs? It has also been made clear that Reliance will be playing an important role in the growth of the Indian economy, as well. Can these three youngsters handle the pressure of running the business and taking up the country’s economy? All to be seen!