Reliance’s Rs 3.1 lakh crore quarter: profit down, balance sheet still strong

Reliance Industries closed its April-June quarter with revenue of Rs 3.1 lakh crore, up 25% from a year earlier, the company said in its Q1 FY27 results released on Friday. The growth came primarily from the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division and Jio’s digital services business, even as consolidated profit for the quarter fell 25% to Rs 23,196 crore.

The profit decline was driven mainly by the absence of a one-off gain of Rs 8,924 crore that Reliance had booked in the same quarter a year earlier from selling its stake in Asian Paints. Even so, the reported profit of Rs 23,196 crore came in well above analysts’ average estimate of Rs 18,550 crore. Ebitda for the quarter rose 10% to Rs 51,403 crore, while total expenses increased 27% to Rs 2.9 lakh crore.

Despite the profit dip, Reliance’s balance sheet remained solid: a cash balance of Rs 2.46 lakh crore comfortably covered net debt of Rs 1.22 lakh crore as of 30 June. The company also had Rs 27,389 crore in non-convertible debentures outstanding, of which Rs 20,000 crore was backed by security over some of its movable assets. Capital expenditure for the quarter totalled Rs 38,682 crore, partly funding the company’s green energy build-out and consumer business expansion.

Chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said: ‘Reliance has made a steady start to FY27, with all businesses delivering strong operating performance despite continuing geopolitical tensions and volatile commodity markets. This makes me optimistic about the year ahead as we advance our new energy projects and the Jio IPO.’

Among individual segments, retail ebitda was broadly flat at Rs 6,309 crore even as revenue grew 8%, oil and gas ebitda held steady at Rs 4,973 crore, and JioStar’s ebitda rose 31% to Rs 933 crore on the back of strong revenue growth. Ebitda from smaller businesses, including media and consumer products, fell 28% to Rs 1,856 crore.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by World Economic Forum