Jio Financial Services Q4: Profit Rises 6% QoQ To INR 311 Cr

Fintech company Jio Financial Services (JFS) posted almost a 6% rise in its consolidated net profit to INR 311 Cr in the March quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 294 Cr reported in the previous December quarter.

The company’s operating revenue saw a marginal increase to INR 418 Cr in the reported quarter compared from INR 414 Cr in Q3 FY24.

JFS’ increased profit was largely driven by an increase in share of profit of associates and joint ventures and lower tax expenses. 

Earlier this week, JFS signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with the US-based investment giant BlackRock to launch wealth management and broking businesses. It is pertinent to note that the companies, last year, formed a JV to enter the Indian asset management space with an initial investment of $300 Mn.

As a company providing a wide array of financial services including lending and leasing, payments, investments, and insurance, JFS earns its revenue from interest income, fees and commissions chargeable to customers, and net gain on fair value changes.

The company’s main operating revenue stream, interest income, witnessed a 4.3% rise quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to INR 281 Cr in Q4 FY24. Meanwhile, its fees, commission, and service charges declined 26% QoQ to INR 30.5 Cr in the reported quarter.

Overall, in FY24, JFS posted a net profit of INR 1,604.5 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 1,854 Cr.

On the expenditure side, JFS’ total expenses increased 4.2% to INR 103 Cr in Q4 FY24 from INR 99 Cr in the previous quarter – Q3 FY24. 

In that, employee benefits expenses increased to INR 39.3 Cr from about INR 34 Cr in Q3 FY24.

JFS listed on the bourses in August last year after demerging from Reliance Industries Ltd.

In an investor presentation published along with the Q4 results, the company said it is currently addressing the working capital needs of suppliers in the lending business. Going forward, JFS is set to foray into areas like home loans, loan against property, and loan against mutual funds.

On the other hand, in its payments business, JFS has launched its debit card and a merchant mobile app. Besides, it has launched the pilot of its voice box (competitor of Paytm’s Soundbox) in Mumbai.

In the insurance vertical, JFS said it has forged tie-ups with 29 insurance companies.

The company also said that it has a strong capital base to fund its growth strategy and it is capitalising on new entrant advantage with end-to-end digital offerings.

Ahead of its Q4 results on Friday (April 19), shares of JFS ended the day’s trading 2.2% lower at INR 370 on the BSE.