Jio Platform Q3 Results: PAT up 28.6% YoY on lower lower spectrum usage charges

For the October- December 2022 quarter, JPL’s consolidated net profit rose to Rs 4,881 crore from Rs 4,729 crore in the July-September period and Rs 3, 795 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal year, the company said on Friday.

The profit exceeded the Rs 4,621 crore average analyst estimates compiled by ET.

The

subsidiary posted a nearly 21% increase in revenue from operations on-year at Rs 24, 892 crore, also led by steady increase in subscriber base, and average revenue per user (ARPU), the company said.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom unit of Jio Platforms, added 5.3 million users to its network in the December quarter, signalling a slowdown in net subscriber addition from 7.7 million in the September quarter. Jio’s total subscriber base was 432.9 million as on December 31.

Quarterly ARPU, a key performance parameter, improved to Rs 178.2 from Rs 177.20 in the second quarter, due to better subscriber mix, the company said. It marginally fell short of the street estimate of Rs 179.

“Jio delivered record revenues and EBITDA driven by strong momentum in customer growth and data consumption. This quarter we launched True 5G services. It is now available in 134 cities and towns in India, enhancing customer experience while enabling next generation services,” said chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani.Earnings margin before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 25.1% on year at Rs 12, 519 crore on account of revenue growth and margin improvement while EBITDA margin increased by 170 basis points due to increased ARPU and benefit from lower spectrum usage charges.

JPL, established in October 2019, houses

Jio Infocomm, the largest telecom service provider in the country, and other digital properties and investments of the group. Reliance Jio makes up the bulk of JPL’s operations.

Reliance Jio’s standalone net profit in the December quarter rose 28.2% on-year to Rs 4,637 crore, helped by lower licence fee and SUC payouts, post the recent 5G auctions.

“The sharp slowdown in Jio’s customer additions coupled with flattish data usage/customer in the December quarter suggests arch rival

may have grabbed a larger chunk of customers churning from , indicating a possible dip in Jio’s operational performance,” said an analyst at a global consultancy firm who not wish to be named.

Quarterly telecom business revenue at Rs 22, 998 crore was 18.9% higher from a year earlier.

Akash M Ambani, chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm said the company will cover all of India by December 2023.

“In addition, Jio will connect over 100 million premises with JioFiber and JioAirFiber offering unparalleled digital experiences. We will also

small merchants and businesses with cutting-edge, plug-and-play solutions delivered from the cloud,” he added.

The total wireless data consumption rose to 29 billion GB in Q3FY23 as compared to 28.2 billion GB in the previous three months.

Total voice consumption rose to 1.27 trillion minutes from 1.23 trillion minutes sequentially.

JPL saw Depreciation increase led by higher network utilisation and incremental addition to gross block, the company said, while finance cost reduced due to repayment of high cost deferred payment liabilities.