By Chandini Monnappa and Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries missed quarterly profit estimates on Friday, as steady gains in its retail and digital services arms failed to offset the weakness at its legacy oil-to-chemicals business.
While revenue from its oil-to-chemicals segment grew year-on-year due to recovery in fuel margins, “downstream” chemicals stayed weak amid persistent global oversupply.
Downstream chemical margins may stay under pressure due to elevated supply and raw material price volatility, the conglomerate cautioned.
Consolidated profit rose to 181.65 billion rupees ($2.06 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, from 165.63 billion rupees a year ago. But it missed analysts’ average estimate of 227.31 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Reliance said its profit didn’t grow as much as it could have due to a fall in polyester business margins after tariff-related concerns dampened global textile demand.
The company’s revenue from operations came in at 2.59 trillion rupees, compared with analysts’ expectations of 2.42 trillion rupees.
Revenue from its oil-to-chemicals segment rose 3.2%, while that from retail grew 18.6% and digital services by 14.6%.
The results come as Ambani accelerates Reliance’s pivot toward faster-growing consumer and digital businesses, while making steady strides in its new energy ambitions.
Reliance has invested heavily in setting up its round-the-clock clean energy project at Jamnagar in the western state of Gujarat. The company expects the project to begin commercial power production next year, contributing to the conglomerate’s revenue and EBITDA.
“Reliance’s energy business remains large and stable, driven by global price and demand dynamics, but the real shareholder value creation now lies in its digital and retail arms,” said Raghvendra Nath, MD, Ladderup Asset Managers.
The conglomerate, one of India’s largest with a market value of nearly $218 billion, is preparing to list its telecom arm Jio by mid-2026, a move seen as pivotal to unlocking value in its fast-growing digital services unit.
Consolidated profit after tax for the digital unit, Jio Platforms, was up 12.8%.
All formats registered higher volume in retail business, Ambani said, adding that it was seeing sustained pick-up in their quick hyper-local delivery model.
($1 = 88.0020 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru and Sethuraman NR in New Delhi; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Leroy Leo and Dhanya Skariachan)
