RIL profit up 16% in Q2 on better O2C, retail play

Mumbai : Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India’s most-valued listed company, reported a 16% growth in profit in the September quarter from the year earlier on the back of marginal improvements across its key businesses: oil-to-chemicals (O2C), telecom and retail.

RIL reported consolidated profit of ₹22,146 crore for the second quarter, up from ₹19,101 crore a year prior. Net profit attributable to the owners of the firm was up 10% to ₹18,165 crore from ₹16,563 crore in the year before. Revenue grew 10% to ₹2.83 lakh crore. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose 15% to ₹50,367 crore.


“Reliance delivered a robust performance during 2QFY26 led by strong contributions from O2C, Jio, and retail businesses,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries. “Consolidated ebitda registered 14.6% growth on a yo-y basis, reflecting agile business operations, domestic focused portfolio, and structural growth in the Indian economy.”

The O2C business posted a 3% increase in revenue to ₹1.6 lakh crore in the second quarter, while ebitda expanded 21% to ₹15,008 crore. RIL is building the world's only integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) giga factory, said Sriram Ramakrishnan of the new energy business.



Focus on Sustainability

The company’s solar cell unit will be operational next month.

“We are making good progress in readying our first battery storage factory next year,” he said. “We have now commissioned four solar PV module lines. Next month, we will begin solar cell production. We have made significant progress for a 40GWh battery storage production unit.”

Sustainability is a key theme. “We are looking to produce green chemicals, sustainable aviation fuels using green hydrogen,” said Ramakrishnan. “With increasing electrification, the requirement for power is rising. We are looking to provide renewable power round the clock at an attractive price point than fossil fuel… We are looking to produce green chemicals, sustainable aviation fuels using green hydrogen.”

Amit Chaturvedi, president of the petrochemicals segment, said that demand is bouncing back for polymers and polyesters after GST rationalisation.

“Reliance cracker operating rate was 100% vs global cracked rate—80% driven by domestic demand and better inventory,” he said.

TELECOM, RETAIL

Jio Platforms Ltd. (JPL), which holds Reliance Industries’ telecom and digital businesses, posted a 12.8% rise in September quarter net profit to Rs 7,379 crore from the year earlier, boosted mainly by a rise in higher-paying data users and strong subscriber additions. JPL reported a 14.6% growth in revenue from operations to Rs 36,332 crore on user additions and improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU).

Net profit at Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd rose 22% to Rs 3,457 crore from a year earlier, while gross revenue increased 18% to ₹90,018 crore. Net revenue rose 19% to ₹79,128 crore. It operated 19,821 stores at the end of September.

“Our quick hyper-local deliveries continue to be in a strong trajectory with 42% growth on a quarter-on-quarter and 200% growth on a y-o-y basis in terms of average daily orders,” said Dinesh Taluja, chief financial officer, Reliance Retail. “The demand is not a concern right now in terms of availability of gas in India. We are looking at expanding in the east coast of India.”

Ahead of the earnings announcement, RIL closed 1.35% higher on the BSE on Friday at ₹1,416.95. The benchmark Sensex ended the session 0.58% higher. Earnings were announced after market hours. The company said the renewable energy business will begin adding to the company’s earnings next year.