Reliance Industries is likely to see a mid-single-digit decline in its operating profit in the second quarter of FY25, weighed down by its dominant refining and petchem business. However, that will be offset by a growth in its consumer-facing verticals, telecom and retail.
The Mukesh Ambani-controlled conglomerate, which will be announcing its results later today, is seen posting a net profit in the region of ₹15,354 crore, down over 11 per cent on year and net sales coming in marginally higher at ₹2.4 lakh crore, according to analysts.
Operating profit or EBITDA is seen declining both sequentially as well as on year to ₹3.7 lakh crore.
In its earnings preview of the company for the September quarter, broker firm YES Securities estimated the refining throughput to have increased around 3 per cent on year and to have remained flat sequentially at 17.6 mmt and gross refining margin in the region of $9.6 per barrel, compared to $11/bbl in Q1 and $19/bbl year ago.
RIL derives roughly around 60 per cent of its revenues from the oil-to-chemicals business.
In the telecom segment, where Reliance Jio is the leader, it is expected to post ARPU (average revenue per user) at ₹183.5, YES Securities said, with the company having taken price increases towards the fag end of June. The telecom operating profit is estimated to have grown at a healthy 10 per cent.
In its earnings forecast Prabhudas Lilladher put at the ARPU at ₹194 and subscriber base at 492.7 million. It pegged revenue of the telecom vertical at ₹28,510 crore, up 7.7 per cent sequentially and EBITDA at ₹Rs 14,930 crore, up 7.3 per cent sequentially.
Reliance Retail’s revenue is seen flattish in the quarter, with a low single digit sequential growth, mainly because consumer spending has been subdued. Elara Securities has forecast retail EBITDA to rise 9 per cent on year.
Retail EBITDA margin is seen in the range of 7-8 per cent, according to analysts.