Jio Platforms Q4 Profit Zooms 12% to Rs 5,583 Cr

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) Jio Platforms on Monday reported a 12 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit for the March quarter to Rs 5,583 crore, buoyed by subscriber additions and rising traffic, but ARPU remained flat sequentially at Rs 181.7.

Jio said it is driving India's transition towards 5G with over 108 million subscribers now, the largest 5G subscriber base for any operator outside China.

The quarterly gross revenue at Rs 33,835 crore was up 13.3 per cent more than the year-ago period, while the revenue from operations rose 13.4 per cent to Rs 28,871 crore for Jio Platforms, which houses Reliance Industries' telecom and digital businesses.

Average realisations - Average Revenue Per User or ARPU which forms key metrics for all telecom companies - however remained flat, when seen sequentially.

"ARPU was Rs 181.7 with better subscriber mix partially offset by increasing mix of promotional 5G traffic, offered unlimited to subscribers and not yet charged separately," according to the earnings release.

Jio results, the first off-the-block from the telcos' pack in the current earnings' season - came in after market hours.

Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm said, “Jio continues to maintain its network leadership and offer innovative digital solutions to multiple customer cohorts. This is driving consistent outperformance in terms of subscriber additions and engagement levels."

He exuded confidence that continued acceleration in growth of JioAirFiber subscriber base and ramp-up of digital services will sustain industry-leading growth for Jio.

Data traffic topped 148 exabytes in FY24, jumping 31 per cent on-year, fuelled by 5G adoption and home scale up.

The net profit at Rs 5,583 crore in the fourth and final quarter of FY24 was 12 per cent more than the year-ago period.

For the full year FY24, Jio Platforms registered a net profit of Rs 21,423 crore, 12 per cent more than FY23.

"Revenue for JPL increased by 11.7 per cent Y-o-Y, led by robust subscriber growth of 42.4 million across mobility and homes and benefit of mix improvement in ARPU," parent Reliance Industries said in its Q4 earnings release offering a snapshot of business-wise performance.

Performance of the digital services segment has been boosted by accelerated expansion of subscriber base, supported by both mobility and fixed wireless services, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries said.

"With over 108 million True 5G customers, Jio truly leads the 5G transformation in India. From upgrading the hitherto 2G users to smartphones, to leading the effort of producing AI-driven solutions, Jio has proved its capability in strengthening the nation's digital infrastructure," he said.

For Jio Platform, the full-year revenue from operations at Rs 109,558 crore, translated into an 11.6 per cent increase.

Strong EBITDA growth is on account of higher revenue and consistent improvement in margins, Jio said adding the finance cost was broadly flat due to limited change in leverage.

"Network leadership sustains subscriber addition with Jio outpacing competition and adding 10.9million net subscribers during Q4'FY24," it said.

JioAirFiber services are now being offered across 5,900 cities/ towns, with further ramp-up towards pan India coverage soon. Customer demand and engagement have been strong with JioAirFiber's proposition as an entertainment-first product bundled with world-class broadband connectivity, the company said.

"Average daily data usage for AirFiber subscribers is at about 13 GB, which is 30 per cent higher than JioFiber subscribers," it added.

On a standalone basis, Reliance Jio posted a 13 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 5,337 crore for the March quarter. The revenue from operations for Q4FY24 came in at Rs 25,959 crore, up 11 per cent over the year-ago period.

According to a BSE filing by the company, for the full year FY24, the net profit stood at Rs 20,466 crore, which was 12.4 per cent higher than in FY23. Seen sequentially, the net profit went up 2.4 per cent, while the revenue from operation was 2.3 per cent more than the December quarter.