Reliance Industries Q3 Results Preview: Higher Product Spreads, Refining Margins To Boost Earnings

Reliance Industries Ltd.'s third-quarter earnings are likely to get a boost from higher product cracks and refining margins.

The refining-to-retail conglomerate controlled by Mukesh Ambani is likely to see its consolidated net profit (adjusted from extraordinary items) rise 3.4% sequentially to Rs 16,037 crore in the three months through December, according to an average of analysts' estimates tracked by Bloomberg.

The consolidated revenue of the nation’s biggest company by market value is expected to have declined 1.6% sequentially to Rs 2.29 lakh crore. But it's up 23.7% from a year earlier.

Operating income—or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation—is estimated to rise 18.3% sequentially to Rs 33,626 crore, a drop of 13.2% year-on-year.  

RIL is set to announce its December quarter results on Friday. 

RIL’s O2C segment's Ebitda is expected to see sequential growth underpinned by higher refining margins.

“We estimate RIL’s consolidated Ebitda to improve by 11% QoQ to Rs 34,700 crore, with O2C Ebitda up 10% on better refining netbacks,” Emkay Research said in a report. 

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. is likely to benefit from higher subscriber additions and higher average revenue per user. 

The segment Ebitda is expected to rise 4% over the previous quarter, led by the addition of 50 lakh subscribers and a 2% quarter-on-quarter increase in ARPU to Rs 179, Nomura said in a report.

"We expect net subscriber additions of around 5 million (50 lakh) with a 2% rise in ARPU to Rs 180," said Emkay Global Financial Services.