Reliance Jio Platforms Q4 Results: Profit Rises Even As ARPU Declines
Net profit rose 0.5% sequentially to Rs 3,508 crore in the quarter ended March.
Jio Platforms Ltd., the group’s digital and telecom business, saw its consolidated profit rise marginally even as the average revenue it earns from each user fell during the quarter ended March.
Net profit rose 0.5% sequentially to Rs 3,508 crore in the quarter, according to its exchange filing. Consolidated revenue fell 6.1% over the previous quarter to Rs 18,278 crore.
- Operating profit rose 1.1% to Rs 8,573 crore.
- Margin expanded to 46.9% from 40.9%.
- Average revenue per user fell to Rs 138 per month from Rs 151 last quarter.
The decline in ARPU was driven by a transition from the interconnect usage charge regime to a “bill and keep” regime that came in effect from Jan. 1, 2021, and fewer working days in the quarter, the company said in a release. Reliance Jio had made calls to all networks free at the start of the year to mark the end of the IUC regime. It used to charge calls to other networks at 6 paise per minute earlier.
A look at Reliance Jio Infocomm’s standalone earnings shows revenue from operations fell to Rs 17,358 crore versus Rs 18,492 crore in the December-ended quarter. Net profit was almost flat quarter-on-quarter: Rs 3,360 crore versus Rs 3,291 crore.
- Total data traffic of 16.7 billion GB; 5.2% growth Q-o-Q
- Total voice traffic of 1.03 trillion minutes; 5.9% growth Q-o-Q
- Churn reduced during the quarter to 1.26%
Reliance Jio’s customer base stood at 42.6 crore as on March 31, 2021. The network operator added a net of 1.54 crore customers during the quarter. The telecom firm has maintained gross subscriber market share of over 35% since August 2020, according to telecom regulator data. Its active subscriber base stood at 32.4 crore in January. Total data and voice traffic grew 5.2% and 5.9% sequentially, respectively.
Jio’s parent Reliance Industries Ltd. reported a 0.7% rise in profit led by its legacy oil-to-chemicals business and a turnaround in the oil and gas business.
Shares of Reliance Industries closed 1.42% lower ahead of the earnings, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended trade 1.98% down.