Reliance Industries Q2 Results: Profit climbs 14% on strong growth in refining, retail, and digital units

Reliance said broad-based growth in consumer businesses, together with improved refining margins and continued thrust on domestic fuel retailing operations, helped deliver a robust consolidated performance during the quarter.

Commenting on the earnings, Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, said: “Reliance delivered a robust performance during 2QFY26 led by strong contribution from O2C, Jio and Retail businesses. Consolidated EBITDA registered 14.6% growth on a YoY basis, reflecting agile business operations, a domestic-focused portfolio and structural growth in the Indian economy. Digital services business continues to scale up with positive momentum in subscriber addition across homes and mobility services, driven by Jio’s network and technology leadership."

Oil-to-chemicals (O2C)

O2C EBITDA grew 20.9 percent to Rs 15,008 crore, benefiting from a sharp rebound in transportation fuel cracks (up 22–37 percent) and improvement in polymer margins (up 5–8 percent), though partly constrained by weak polyester chain deltas. Segment performance was also supported by sustained higher volumes in domestic fuel retailing operations.

Production meant for sale during the quarter rose 2.3 percent to 18.1 million tonnes. The O2C business delivered its highest-ever quarterly throughput of 20.8 million tonnes, up 3 percent from a year earlier. Jio-bp continued to expand its presence in domestic fuel retail, with the network crossing the 2,000-outlet mark to reach 2,057 as of September 30, adding 236 outlets over the past year.

“EBIDTA growth in O2C business was driven by higher domestic fuel placement through the Jio-BP partnership,” said Srinivasan T, Chief Operating Officer, O2C (refining).

"We also opportunistically bought imports to reduce our raw material cost," he said, adding that global operating refinery rates are increasing, driven by demand from Europe and the US."

Amit Chaturvedi, President, Petrochemicals added that demand is bouncing back for polymers and polyesters after GST rationalisation.

Oil & Gas

The oil and gas segment recorded EBITDA of Rs 5,002 crore, down 5.4 percent from a year earlier, with margins at 82.6 percent, lower by 240 basis points. The decline was due to lower revenues and higher operating costs arising from periodic maintenance activity.

KGD6 sales volumes fell due to the natural decline in gas production, while lower coal bed methane (CBM) gas and crude price realisations also impacted earnings. The effect was partially offset by improved gas price realisation for KG D6 and higher CBM volumes. Average KGD6 gas production was 26.1 MMSCMD, with oil and condensate output of about 18,746 barrels per day.

“We are seeing a natural decline in KGD6. We are looking at options to augment the production of our blocks,” said Sanjay Roy, Executive Vice-President for Exploration and Production.

Digital Services

Digital Services revenue increased 15 percent from a year earlier to Rs 42,652 crore, led by continued expansion of the subscriber base and improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU). Segment EBITDA grew 17.7 percent to Rs 18,757 crore, with a 140-basis-point expansion in margin.

Jio’s 5G subscriber base rose to 234 million, while total home connections reached 22.7 million, with more than one million homes added each month during the quarter. JioAirFiber continued to demonstrate global leadership with about 9.5 million subscribers. ARPU improved 8.4 percent to Rs 211.4.

“Jio will continue to bring new age technologies and enhance the lives of every Indian citizen. Jio has successfully delivered its indigenous technology stack at India scale and is now set to take our homegrown technology around the world,” said Akash M Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Commenting on the September quarter performance, Anshuman Thakur, senior vice president, Jio Platforms, said that the increase in ARPU was driven by higher usage and customer movement to higher data plans.

He added that Jio is adding a million users per month in the JioAirFiber category, a wireless broadband service, now available pan India.

Retail

Revenue for the retail business grew strongly by 18 percent year-on-year to Rs 90,018 crore, with significant contributions from all formats. Grocery and Fashion & Lifestyle delivered market-leading performance, growing 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Segment EBITDA rose 16.5 percent to Rs 6,816 crore, driven by higher revenues with a favourable mix and improvement in store operating metrics. The business continues to expand its footprint, with 19,821 stores spanning 77.8 million sq. ft. of operational area.

Isha M. Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, said “Reliance Retail delivered strong performance during the quarter, led by our relentless 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.”

Dinesh Taluja, Chief Financial Officer, Reliance Retail, commented that the retail business’s quick hyper-local deliveries continue to see a strong trajectory with 42 percent growth on a quarter-on-quarter and 200 percent growth on a YOY basis in terms of average daily orders.

He added that in the bigger cities, Reliance Retail is complementing its large store network with dark stores to reduce the last mile delivery radius and enable quicker deliveries.

He also noted that premium formats are growing significantly faster and are seeing double-digit growth.

Media

JioStar saw record Ebitda for the September quarter with industry-leading margins of 28.1 percent. Ebitda for the quarter grew to Rs 1,738 crore from Rs 1,017 crore in the June quarter (Q1 FY26).

The media business reported a revenue of Rs 7,232 crore. JioStar’s average monthly active users stood at 400 million.

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