Reliance Industries Q2 profit drops 15% as Covid-19 hit oil demand

The Indian oil, retail and telecoms conglomerate said on Friday consolidated profit slipped to 95.67 billion rupees ($1.29 billion) in the three months to Sept. 30 from 112.62 billion rupees a year earlier.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd’s profit fell 15% in the September quarter as the coronavirus crisis crushed demand at its dominant oil refining and petrochemicals businesses.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries. (REUTERS)

Reliance said on Friday consolidated profit slipped to 95.67 billion rupees ($1.29 billion) in the three months to Sept. 30 from 112.62 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 85.48 billion rupees, Refinitiv data showed.

Refining revenue dipped 36%, said Reliance, which operates the world’s biggest oil refining complex. Petrochemicals revenue fell 23%.

Meanwhile, Reliance’s Jio telecom unit - India’s largest by subscribers - continued to be a bright spot as revenue surged 33%.

Overall, revenue from operations for Reliance slid 24% to 1.16 trillion rupees.