Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.'s quarterly profit missed analyst estimates even as the carrier's average revenue per user hit a four-year-high.
Net profit increased 2.4% sequentially to Rs 3,615 crore in the quarter ended December, the nation's largest telecom operator by active subscribers said in an exchange filing. Analysts' estimates compiled by BloombergQuint had pegged the bottom line at Rs 3,860 crore.
Q3 FY22 Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue rose 3.3% to Rs 19,347 crore, compared with the Rs 19,387-crore estimate.
Operating profit increased 2.4% to Rs 4,847 crore.
Margin narrowed to 26.1% from 26.3%.
Average revenue per user rose to Rs 151.6 per month—highest since Q3 FY18.
The improvement in ARPU came from a better mix of subscribers and recent tariff hikes, Jio said. It said the full impact of the hikes will be reflected over the next few quarters.
Reliance Jio's total customer base stood at 42.1 crore as on Dec. 31, 2021. It added a net of 1 crore customers in the third quarter. However, the connectivity business along saw net reduction in customer base due to SIM consolidation. "This decline is mainly driven by subscribers with inconsistent engagement and lower-end subscribers," it said.
The telecom operator dominates India's mobile market and has more than 35% gross subscriber market share since July 2020, according to the latest TRAI data available for November 2021. Also, the company has been consistently improving its active user market share since March 2021.
Its average monthly usage of data and voice consumption per user increased 4.5% to 18.4 GB, and 7.2% to 901 minutes, respectively.
Reliance Jio's parent, Reliance Industries Ltd., saw a 41.6% sequential rise in profit, aided by its oil-to-chemicals and retail verticals.
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