Jio fourth quarter results: net profit nearly triples to Rs 2,331 crore; ARPU at Rs 130.6

MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm’s net profit for the January-March quarter nearly tripled to Rs 2.331 crore, helped by rate increases that helped its average revenue per user (ARPU) for the second consecutive quarter after seven quarters of falls.

The telecommunications company, led by Mukesh Ambani, said on Thursday that earnings for the quarter increased to Rs 2.331 crore compared to Rs 840 crore a year ago. The market had an estimated profit of around Rp 2 billion. Quarterly, profit increased 73%. It is the company’s 10th consecutive profitable quarter.

Earnings were also helped by a one-time gain during the quarter of Rs 31 crore related to the reversal of the provision on adjusted gross income (AGR) shares.

Revenue for the quarter was Rs 14,835 million compared to Rs 11,715 million a year ago for the country’s new telecommunications operator, which plays a key role in helping parent RIL transform from an oil and retail conglomerate retailer on a technology platform. company.

“Jio is embarking on the next stage of growth with a path-defining partnership with one of the world’s largest digital companies, Facebook. Our focus will be India’s 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises, 120 million of farmers, 30 million small traders and millions of small and medium-sized enterprises in the informal sector, “Mukesh Ambani, president of RIL, Jio’s parent, said in a statement Thursday.

The telecommunications company gained a net total of 17.5 million customers in the quarter just ended, considering the impact of the Covid-19 blockade on user enrollment and number portability.

“An aggressive sales initiative and customer-centric approach have been launched to help catch up the slowdown in subscriber addition momentum as we return to normal,” Jio said in the statement.

Jio is the first of the trio of private players to announce their results.

ARPU, a key industry benchmark, for the quarter stood at Rs 130.6, versus Rs 128 in the fiscal third quarter. Operators are expected to record better ARPUs due to increased rates and usage, analysts said.

However, the average monthly data usage per user increased to 11.3 GB from 11.1 GB in the previous quarter, while voice consumption per user increased to 771 minutes per month from 760 minutes per month in the previous quarter.