Jio Q3 Results: Profit Up 15% As ARPU Continues To Rise
Net profit rose 15.5% sequentially to Rs 3,489 crore in the quarter ended December.
Jio Platforms Ltd.’s quarterly profit rose as Mukesh Ambani’s digital venture saw average revenue per user increase for the fifth straight quarter.
Net profit rose 15.5% sequentially to Rs 3,489 crore in the quarter ended December, according to an exchange filing. Analysts’ estimates compiled by BloombergQuint had pegged the bottom line at Rs 3,194 crore.
- Revenue rose 5.3% over the previous quarter to Rs 19,475 crore against the estimated Rs 18,129 crore.
- Operating profit rose 6.4% to Rs 8,483 crore.
- Margin expanded to 43.6% from 43.1%.
Jio Platforms achieved an annual revenue run rate of $10 billion, Anshuman Thakur, head of strategy at Reliance Jio, said during an earnings briefing on Jan. 22.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.’s revenue rose 5.78% sequentially to Rs 18,492 crore. Growth was led by higher ARPU and subscriber addition, he said.
- India’s largest mobile operator added 25.1 million customers on a gross level and 5.2 million subscribers on a net level in the third quarter.
- Operating profit rose 6% sequentially to Rs 8,166 crore.
- Net profit increased 15.71% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 3,291 crore.
- ARPU rose to Rs 151 per month from Rs 145 last quarter.
The company is looking to roll-out 5G networks in the next few quarters, said Kiran Thomas of Jio Platforms, adding the necessary solutions and architecture are being built in-house.
Reliance Jio is also in the process of piloting IoT for connected cars, smart metering, smart cities and connected assets, Thomas said.
Addition of high-paying customers to JioFibre, the company’s fixed landline broadband service, was expected to improve average revenue per user in the third quarter. The company had seen a 12% month-on-month rise in the wired broadband segment in October.
While Jio continued to lead India’s telecom market, its rival Bharti Airtel Ltd. is now adding more monthly customers and narrowing the gap.
The company claimed it’s the leader in 18 out of 22 circles in terms of AGR revenue and a close second in Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India data as on September 2020.
Jio has also made domestic calls to other operators free since the telecom regulator abolished the interconnect usage fee of 6 paise a minute that’s paid every a subscriber called a user on a rival network.
Jio’s parent Reliance Industries Ltd. reported a 12.6% rise in profit. However, revenue and operating profit declined.
Shares of RIL closed 2.3% lower ahead of the earnings announcement compared with a 1.5% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.