RIL Results: Digital, New Commerce Ventures Accounted For 18% Of Reliance Retail’s Total Revenues In Q1 FY24

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday (June 21) said its digital and new commerce businesses contributed 18% to the total revenue of Reliance Retail, its retail arm, in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). 

RIL released its financial results for the quarter that ended on June 30, 2023, on Friday (July 21). The digital and new commerce ventures of the Indian conglomerate accounted for 18% of Reliance Retail’s revenues in FY23 as well. 

Reliance Retail owns brands such as JioMart, AJIO, Netmeds, and Trends, among others. Its consumer-facing retail businesses sell items ranging from footwear to electronics and from apparel to grocery. 

Key operational metrics also saw healthy growth as the number of stores increased 16.3% YoY to 18,446. Meanwhile, the footfall at its physical stores soared 42.3% to a record 249 Mn in the quarter ending June 2023. 

The registered user base zoomed 28.4% YoY to 267 Mn in Q1 FY24, while the number of transactions processed on its various retail platforms jumped 42.7% YoY to 314 Mn. 

The company said that its consumer electronics-focussed new commerce vertical expanded its merchant partner base by 71% YoY. 

Alongside, the fashion and lifestyle segment saw revenue growth of 15% YoY, driven largely by an uptick in store traffic and average bill value. The online fashion marketplace, AJIO reported sustained improvement across operational metrics and added 2 Mn new customers in Q1 FY24.

During the quarter, RIL’s retail arm also completed the acquisition of Metro Cash and Carry India. 

Other Highlights Of Reliance Retail’s Q1 FY24 Performance:

• The grocery business grew 59% YoY 
• Consumer brands vertical saw an 8X YoY revenue increase 
• Sales of the beverages category jumped 11X YoY
• JioMart is on a sustained growth path, with the company looking to increase traffic and average bill value
• JioMart’s catalogue count grew 6X YoY, while the merchant base jumped nearly 4X YoY in Q4 FY24

In May, brokerage firm Bernstein said that Reliance Retail was still the ‘best-positioned player’ in the Indian ecommerce market. 

The company’s ecommerce marketplace AJIO has also been raking in good numbers. Last month, AJIO said that it saw a 40% YoY increase in volume during its 18-day summer sale, with 50% of orders coming from Tier II & III cities. It has also ramped up its presence in the beauty ecommerce segment with the launch of Tira.

Reliance Retail’s net profit surged 18.8% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 2,448 Cr in Q1 FY24, compared to INR 2,061 Cr a year ago. Revenue from operations zoomed 20.5% YoY to INR 62,159 Cr in Q1 FY24 as against INR  51,582 Cr in Q1 FY23. 

RIL’s telecom arm Jio Platforms Limited also saw its consolidated net profit grow 12.5% to INR 5,098 Cr in Q1 FY24. Its revenues from operations rose 11.3% YoY to INR 26,115 Cr during the same period. Overall, RIL’s net profit declined 5.9% YoY to INR 18,258 Cr in Q1 FY24, while its operating revenue declined 5.3% YoY to INR 2.1 Lakh Cr during the period under review.