Reliance Industries 48th AGM: What To Expect From Mukesh Ambani At RIL's Shareholder Meet

The investor interest build-up going into the Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of Reliance Industries is always high. RIL will hold its 48th AGM on August 29 and like every year, the build-up to the shareholder meet is rising ahead of the event.

In the last four years, the market was disappointed post AGM, leading to a negative stock price reaction. And hence, this time the stock expectation is quite modest, leaving enough room for a positive surprise.

Geopolitical event around US tariff clouds this AGM as Mukesh Ambani-controlled RIL, along with PSU refiners, is one of the largest consumers of Russian crude. India has been isolated by the US in imposing 25% additional tariff for buying Russian crude. This is compared to China which is the largest consumer of Russian crude and European Union that consumes natural gas from Russia.

Ambani is likely to address the issue of crude sourcing diversification at the AGM to its shareholders.

Mukesh Ambani is also likely to address doubling of overall business by 2030 and doubling of Jio and Retail in the next 3-4 years.

Last week Jio hiked its base price plans. This was followed by Airtel that also withdrew its entry plan thereby pushing up the base plan for the industry to Rs 299 for 28 days. Jio offers 1.5GB per day data while Airtel and Vi offer 1GB per day data. The move will improve the average revenue per user for the company.

Ambani is likely to announce new Jio tariff schemes around Diwali to expand subscription and adoption of Jio Fibre and consolidate its position. There could be a strategy presentation on expansion of AirFiber, satellite telecom, and artificial intelligence. Jio is developing a comprehensive suite of tools called JioBrain (an AI service platform).

The company has also demerged its Consumer Products division from Reliance Retail. RIL will own minor shareholding directly in the Consumer Products/FMCG arm.

It now has three arms that could be monetised - Jio, Retail and FMCG. The Street has been waiting for timelines for the IPO or listing via demerger of these arms. An IPO is likely to enhance value for RIL but may also bring holding company discount to the parent.

An announcement for Jio listing will be seen as a positive outcome from the AGM.

New Energy will continue to be in focus, with new timelines and more clarity on the earnings from this division. RIL is likely to portray earnings visibility similar to O2C earnings. The timelines for commercialisation will also be accompanied by Reliance on green power to reduce cost by 25%.

The company will also inform the shareholders on the capex undertaken in the O2C division and the cash generated by the company.

RIL makes majority of strategic business announcements during the AGM directly to its shareholders. Many investors are expecting incremental updates on potential IPO timelines from the AGM especially after the SEBI discussion paper that looks to address large market-cap IPOs.