Reliance Jio’s net profit rose 8.8 per cent to Rs 3,795 crore in the third quarter of FY 2022 on a year-on-year basis driven by revenue growth and an increase in data consumption.
Jio, however, reported a fall in customers for the second consecutive quarter - which also saw the launch of its affordable smartphone JioPhone Next. The company’s customer base fell sequentially by 8.5 million due to SIM consolidation and what the company described as “repurposing of customer retention efforts.” In the second quarter, the company had reported a decline of 11 million subscribers.
Revenue from operations for the quarter grew 5.7 per cent to Rs 20,597 crore partly aided by the 20 per cent tariff hike taken by mobile service providers in November. The average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 151 in Q3 FY 2022.
The company management said it expects the impact of a tariff hike to play out in the next few months.
Earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 18 per cent on a year on year basis to Rs 10,008 crore. This was the first time that the EBITDA crossed the Rs 10,000 mark in a quarter, the company said.
It said that the quality of its customers continues to improve and that is reflected in the 42 per cent year on year rise in monthly per capita data consumption to 18.4 GB. The rationalization of its subscriber base would also bring in cost and network efficiencies, it said.
“Both our consumer businesses, retail and digital services have recorded highest ever revenues and EBITDA. During this quarter, we continued to focus on strategic investments and partnerships across our businesses to drive future growth,” Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a statement.
Last week Jio announced a payment of Rs 30,791 crore towards spectrum acquired prior to March 2021. This will result in an annual interest saving of around Rs 1200 crore. The company said the high-cost spectrum liabilities were financed with market borrowings.
Jio is also putting in place plans for 5G service which is expected to roll out later this year.
“Data driven network planning for Jio’s 5G network is underway based on targeted customer consumption and revenue using Heat maps, 3D maps and ray tracing technology for precise coverage planning to target high consumption and high perception locations. 5G coverage planning has been completed for 1,000 top cities across the country. Jio has been doing trials on advanced use cases across healthcare and industrial automation on its 5G network,” it said.
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