RIL share price at new 52-week high, zooms 125% since March; all eyes on 43rd AGM for Jio biz update

RIL’s AGM will be held through video conferencing or other audio-visual means (OAVM)

Reliance Industries (RIL) share price climbed up 1.5 per cent to hit a fresh all-time of Rs 1,948.75 apiece on BSE ahead of the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled at 2 PM. RIL stock price has rallied over 124 per cent since March, taking the market capitalisation of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to Rs 12.3 lakh crore. RIL’s AGM will be held through video conferencing or other audio-visual means (OAVM), in the wake of fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. The company has assured that more than one lakh shareholders can log into the event to participate. “Some of the key points to watch out for in the AGM will be the management’s guidance on the Jio Fiber business, the outlook for the hydrocarbon business, the status of the Saudi Aramco deal along with any details of future investment plans by the company. The company has invested heavily in the fiber business and markets will be keenly waiting for any color on the same,” Jyoti Roy, DVP Equity Strategist, Angel Broking, told Financial Express Online.

The sharp rally in RIL stock price has been fuelled by back to back investments from 12 global technology investors since April. “Despite any possible short term volatility we remain positive on Reliance Industries Ltd. from a long term perspective,” Jyoti Roy added. The company has become net debt-free and secured a total of Rs 1.18 lakh crore for 25.24 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms. Foreign brokerage Credit Suisse believes Jio has competitive advantages with its full stack of services in many verticals like online health and education, and many of these verticals can be scaled up significantly. “Jio has already started monetising through advertisements on MyJio (converting to Super App with >100 mn monthly active users) and JioSaavn; and the foray into agri-tech, IoT, financial services, and enterprise services is in the early stage, but competition is also limited in most,” Credit Suisse said in its research report.

Reliance Industries has also launched a 24×7 digital virtual assistant (chatbot service) via WhatsApp number +91-79771-11111, where people can access general FAQs, details about virtual AGM, voting, dividend and taxation, important links or documents. Besides, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mukesh Ambani net worth stands at $72.4 billion. With this, RIL Chairman and managing director is now world’s sixth-richest person, replacing Google co-founder Larry Page from the position.