Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance becomes first Indian company with an annual $100 b turnover

The wealthiest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, has become the first Indian company to achieve an annual turnover of 100 billion dollars after the petroleum-to-telecom giant published strong quarterly results in its energy, telecommunications, and retail sectors.

The conglomerate reported a net income of 162.03 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) between January and March, an increase of 22.5% over the same period last year.

Operating revenues rose 36.8% year-on-year to 2.12 trillion rupees, driven by its energy sector operations and new businesses such as retail.

“Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and heightened geopolitical uncertainties, Reliance has delivered a robust performance,” chairman and managing director Ambani said in a statement.

Revenues from Reliance’s oil refinery and petrochemical industries — over half of all income — benefited from the rise in crude oil prices, rising 44.2% over one year to reach 1.46 trillion rupees.

Small oil and gas exploration and production companies of the energy giant saw their revenues jump from 136.8% over one year to 20 billion rupees, helped by higher gas prices.

But India stepped in to keep domestic prices low, even as global oil prices skyrocketed in the quarter, harming Reliance’s nascent petrol pump partnership with the big UK oil and gas company BP, said the company.

The net profit of the telecom Reliance’s arm Jio grew by 22.9% to 43.13 billion rupees, stimulated by the price increases introduced in December 2021, even though its customer base decreased by 10.9 million subscribers during the quarter.

Reliance’s retail revenues reached a new all-time high of 580.17 billion rupees, aided by the early summer months and strong demand for clothing and groceries.

Reliance’s multi-billion-dollar fortune has been fuelled by oil and petrochemical companies, but the company has diversified into new fields, including telecommunications and retail over the past few years.

The company’s shares closed down 0.74 percent in Mumbai before earnings were announced on Friday.