Reliance Retail Q2 consolidated profit up 22% at ₹3,457 crore

New Delhi: Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd’s retail arm, on Friday reported a consolidated profit of ₹3,457 crore for the September quarter, up 22% from a year ago.

Revenue from operations grew 19% year-on-year to ₹79,128 crore.

The retailer's Ebitda rose 16.5% year-on-year to ₹6,816 crore, while Ebitda margin fell by 20 basis points to 8.6%. Ebitda is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization and is a measure of core operations.

Reliance Retail operates across categories such as grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle, and online commerce.

Isha M. Ambani, executive director, Reliance Retail Ventures, on Friday said the business delivered strong performance during the quarter led by the company's focus on operational excellence, investments in stores and digital platforms and festive buying across consumption baskets.

“GST rate changes will further accelerate consumption growth as consumers get the benefit of lower prices… We consistently innovate, from curating new collections to creating campaigns that connect with today's Indian consumer, and our focus remains on building brands that inspire and resonate across India,” she added.

Grocery and fashion & lifestyle businesses grew 23% and 22% year-on-year, respectively, led by festive buying. Consumer electronics delivered 18% year-on-year growth aided by GST rate reduction and new launches.

RRVL's earnings closely coincide with Dhanteras and Diwali; the quarter also saw GST-linked disruptions that hurt sales in the first half of September. Nonetheless, categories such as air conditioners and televisions, sold under its Reliance Digital retail brand, benefited the company due to a reduction in tax rates.

The company reported a consolidated profit of ₹3,271 crore in the April-June quarter, up 28.3% from a year ago. Revenue from operations grew 11.3% year-on-year to ₹73,720 crore.

Store expansion

Reliance Retail opened 412 new stores during the September quarter, taking its total store count to 19,821, up 4.6% year-on-year.

Despite adding new stores, area under operations shrunk 2% to 77.8 million square feet in the September quarter versus 79.4 million sq. ft. in the year-ago period. In the year-ago period, it added 464 new stores, while in the June quarter it opened 388 new stores.

Last fiscal year, the company's retail business saw a period of subdued performance primarily due to an operational rationalisation done by the company that saw the retailer shutter large format stores across categories such as grocery and fashion to open smaller stores across formats.

However, during the company's June quarter earnings call, the management had said the business is now on the path of growing its store network.

“We believe improvement in retail should act as a catalyst for the stock, especially given the implied low valuation for retail. We expect core retail to grow 12% year-on-year top line with FY25-28E CAGR at 13% (vs 5% year-on-year in FY25). Analysts expected the retail business to grow at 14% year-on-year, partially helped by a favorable base (impacted by strategic recalibration of store network),” said Axis Bank analysts in a 13 October report.

The company's grocery business saw double-digit growth year-on-year in core categories with packaged food grew by 20%, staples grew by 18%, and home and personal care (HPC) grew by 13%. Additionally, the volume of fruits and vegetables was up by 62% year-on-year.

The company’s consumer electronics business growth was driven by the festive build-up, though demand was impacted between the announcement and implementation of lower GST rates on 22nd September 2025, with a strong pickup occurring after that date. Laptops grew by 37%, Mobiles grew by 22%, and appliances grew by 10% on year-on-year basis.

Reliance Consumer Products

Additionally, RIL has initiated a restructuring to spin off its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands into a new entity, New Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (New RCPL), ahead of its much-anticipated IPO of its retail business. As part of the restructuring, RCPL will operate as a direct subsidiary of RIL. It was earlier a step-down subsidiary through Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.

The RCPL demerger is a process in progress, and is awaiting a final order from the National Company Law Tribunal, it said on Friday.

In the September quarter, the company's fast-moving consumer goods business reported gross revenue of ₹5,400 crore.

Its cola brand Campa sustained double-digit market share in key markets for Campa, with positive growth momentum across categories led by Campa and Independence.

At the company's 48th annual general meeting in August, management set a revenue target of ₹1 trillion for its packaged consumer products business, RCPL, in five years.