RIL Q3 net, petchem EBIT up 16%; GRM meets estimates; Jio posts first ever profit at Rs 504 cr

"Refining business has delivered 12 consecutive quarter of double-digit refining margins, demonstrating operating excellence and healthy industry fundamentals," he added.

RIL's gross refining margin (GRM) came in at USD 11.6 a barrel was in line with CNBC-TV18 poll of USD 11.6 a barrel and outperformed Singapore complex refining margins by USD 4.4 a barrel. The flagship company of Reliance Group had reported GRM at USD 12 a barrel in September quarter.

Sanjiv Bhasin of IIFL in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said that GRMs was largely in line and overall, the numbers were also in-line.

Ambani said, "Benefits of the large investments in petrochemical business are beginning to show with the segment reporting its highest ever earnings."

Petrochemical business showed a sequential growth of 20.45 percent (up 47.6 percent YoY) at Rs 33,726 crore with record level EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) rising 16 percent (73 percent YoY) due to higher volumes and prices.

Refining segment registered a 8.74 percent growth quarter-on-quarter (23 percent YoY) at Rs 75,865 crore with EBIT falling 6.89 percent QoQ. Higher brent oil prices aided refining business.

Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA - earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased 13 percent sequentially to Rs 17,588 crore and margin expanded by 60 basis points to 17.6 percent.

Reliance Jio, which has subscriber base of 16.01 crore, clocked its first-ever profit at Rs 504 crore for the December quarter against loss of Rs 271 crore in previous quarter.

"The interconnection usage charges (IUC) cut has been very poorly received by Bharti Airtel and Idea but will be a big blessing for Jio," Bhasin said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

At operational level, Jio's EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew by 82 percent sequentially to Rs 2,628 crore in Q3 and margin expanded by 1,470 basis points to 38.2 percent compared to previous quarter.

"Jio’s strong financial result reflects the fundamental strength of the business, significant efficiencies and right strategic initiatives. Jio has demonstrated that it can sustain its strong financial performance," Mukesh Ambani said.

Jio continued its rapid ramp-up of subscriber base. As of December 31, 2017, there were 16.01 crore subscribers on its network with gross subscriber addition of 2.78 crore and net subscriber addition of 2.15 crore during the quarter.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 154 per subscriber per month in December quarter against Rs 156.4 in September quarter. Total wireless data traffic of 431 crore GB (9.6 GB per subscriber per month) for quarter ended December 2017.

Reliance Retail, which witnessed stellar performance across all consumption baskets during the quarter, grew by 28.3 percent QoQ (116.4 percent YoY) to Rs 18,798 crore for the quarter ended December 2017. Its EBIT growth was 45.8 percent QoQ and 110.8 percent YoY at Rs 487 crore in Q3.

The capital expenditure of Rs 17,336 crore (USD 2.7 billion) for the quarter ended December 2017 was principally on account of digital services business, balance of expenditure for projects in the petrochemicals and refining business at Jamnagar and in organised retail business, the company said.

Finance cost during the quarter declined to Rs 2,095 crore from Rs 2,272 crore in September quarter.

Reliance Industries in Q3 reported standalone profit growth of 2.3 percent at Rs 8,454 crore and revenue growth of 5.8 percent at Rs 75,913 crore compared to Q2FY18.

The stock, which is trading near record highs, closed 1.2 percent higher at Rs 931 on the NSE Friday. The scrip price is just 3 percent short of its record high of Rs 959.50. It has already rallied nearly 80 percent in the last one year.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.