Cloud over core biz, but RIL net rises 11%

Revenue falls in oil-to-chemicals; but digital, retail shine in Q3

- Anirudh Laskar

• Given the lacklustre sales in O2C, both revenue and net profit were lower sequentially

Digital and retail carried the day for Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in the December quarter, even as its mainstay oil-to-chemical business (O2C) remained under pressure. Despite lower crude oil prices and weakness in chemicals’ demand, net profit at India’s most valuable company rose 10.9% from a year earlier to ₹19,641 crore, as newer businesses found their feet.

RIL’s profit beat the Bloomberg estimate of ₹18,080 crore, but weakness in the core oil-to-chemical (O2C) business is proving to be a headache for the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate. "Reliance’s O2C segment quarterly revenue fell 2.4% y-o-y to ₹1,41,096 crore primarily on account of lower price realization led by 5.3% y-o-y decline in average Brent crude oil prices," the company said in a statement.

The O2C business includes RIL’s refining, petrochemical plants and manufacturing assets located at Jamnagar, Hazira, Dahej, Nagothane, Vadodara, Patalganga, Silvassa, Barabanki and Hoshiarpur.