Reliance Jio reports net profit of ₹4,335 crore in first quarter of FY23
2 min read 22 Jul 2022, 06:14 PM ISTRevenues of the Reliance Industries Ltd.'s subsidiary grew 21.5% to ₹21,873 crore during the quarter under review
PremiumNEW DELHI: Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, India’s largest telecom services provider, said fiscal first-quarter profit rose 24%, even as it highlighted the readiness of its 5G indigenous stack that will be launched in nine cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, soon after the auctions.
Net profit rose to ₹4,335 crore for the quarter ended 30 June from ₹3,501 crore in the year earlier. Revenue rose 22% to ₹21,873 crore in the June quarter from ₹17,994 crore, the telecom unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) told exchanges on Friday.
The average revenue per user (Arpu), a metric of profitability for telecom service providers, rose to ₹175.7 per month during the quarter, 27.3% more than a year earlier and 4.7% more than the preceding March quarter, “led by higher customer engagement". Arpu for the preceding quarter was ₹167.6 per month, while it was ₹138 per month in the year-earlier June quarter.
Profit missed analysts’ estimates. However, Arpu was higher than market expectations, driven by the residual impact of tariff hike and contribution from FTTH, the company said. Smaller rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are yet to release their quarterly financial numbers.
“Customer engagement on our digital services platform remains high. Jio is working towards expanding data availability for all Indians, and I am pleased to see the positive trends in mobility and FTTH subscriber additions," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL.
Jio has more than 80% market share of new customer additions in the wireline segment, with 7 million connected homes and premises, according to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
The indigenous 5G stack will be deployed within the Jio network and will be taken to markets outside India, said Kiran Thomas, director of Jio Platforms. To begin with, it will be launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad.
“It’s a total 360 degree 5G solution that we have been able to build in Jio Platforms, and obviously, this will be deployed at scale within the Jio network, to begin with, and on the back of that success, it will create a new revenue line, as we are able to take this to other markets event outside India," he said. The department of telecommunications has seen the use cases that have been tried on its network, and the government has given the go-ahead for deployment at scale, Thomas said.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 28% to ₹11,046 crore for the quarter ended June, driven by strong revenue growth and margin improvement.
