Mumbai, Oct 17 (PTI) Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday reported a 9.6 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for the September quarter, driven by strong performance in its consumer-facing retail and telecom businesses and a recovery in its core oil-to-chemicals segment.

However, higher inventory losses weighed on overall earnings, leading to a sequential decline compared to the previous quarter.

The oil-to-retail conglomerate posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 18,165 crore in July-September - the second quarter of April 2025 to March 2026 fiscal (FY26) - higher than Rs 16,563 crore in the same period a year back, the company said in a statement.

Profit, however, sequentially fell 33 per cent when compared with Rs 26,994 crore in the April-July quarter.

New customer addition and higher per user income together with its wireless broadband services becoming the world's largest helped post a 13 per cent year-on-year jump in telecom earnings, improving store operating matrix helped retail earnings soar 22 per cent. Improved refining margins and the highest-ever crude oil processing helped the O2C business.

But a drop in oil prices meant that the value of carrying inventory fell sequentially in Q2. Inventory loss doubled to Rs 8,421 crore when compared with Q1.

The profit before tax (EBITDA) rose 14.6 per cent yoy to Rs 50,367 crore. This was despite a 13.5 per cent rise in finance cost due to higher debt (Rs 3.48 lakh crore as of September 30, 2025, compared to Rs 3.38 lakh crore on June 30). Also, depreciation increased by 12 per cent y-o-y to Rs 14,416 crore.

Jio Platforms Ltd, the subsidiary that houses the telecom and digital businesses, saw profits rise by 13 per cent to Rs 7,379 crore in Q2.

All four key parameters - data minute usage, data consumed, average per-user earnings and number of subscribers - grew. The customer base rose to 506.4 million from 498.1 million in April-June. Average revenue per user rose to Rs 211.4 from Rs 208.8 in the preceding quarter.

Its wireless broadband service, JioAirFibre, amassed a subcriber base of 9.5 million - the highest by any telecom operator in the world. Reliance said it is adding over 1 million new homes each month.

Retail arm Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd posted a 22 per cent year-on-year rise in profit to Rs 3,457 crore. While it opened 229 new stores to take the number to 19,821, the area operated was almost the same at 77.8 million square feet as the company continued to rationalise operations to maximise operating margin.

Oil-to-chemical business, which houses the company's twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical plants, saw EBITDA rise 21 per cent to Rs 15,008 crore in Q2. It was up sequentially as well due to higher product cracks, which helped improve refining margins. Also helping was the highest quarterly refining throughput of 20.8 million tonnes.

In the fuel retail business, Jio-bp - its joint venture with BP of the UK - saw diesel and petrol sales rise by 30 per cent in the quarter and its retail network crossed 2,000 outlets, the statement said.

Lower gas output from KG-D6 fields led to a 5.4 per cent fall in the pre-tax profit of its oil and gas business to Rs 5,002 crore in Q2.

"The average KGD6 production for the 2Q is 26.1 million standard cubic metres per day of gas and 18,746 barrels a day of oil," it said.

Commenting on the results, Reliance chairman and managing director Mukesh D Ambani said, "Reliance delivered a robust performance during 2QFY26 led by strong contribution from O2C, Jio and Retail businesses.

Digital services business, he said, continues to scale-up with positive momentum in subscriber addition across homes and mobility services, driven by Jio's network and technology leadership. Jio's innovative radio solutions and ubiquitous stand-alone 5G network have enabled it to provide broadband connectivity to households across India.

Retail business saw all formats register higher volume, propelling strong growth in both revenue and EBITDA. "There has also been a sustained pick-up in our quick hyperlocal delivery model," he said. "The recently announced progressive reforms in GST regime provide a boost to continuing consumption-led growth." O2C business delivered robust growth on Y-o-Y basis, despite continued volatility in energy markets. Fuel margins recovered over the previous year, led by middle distillate cracks, he said, adding that downstream chemicals continue to be impacted by overcapacity.

"I am happy with the progress we are making in our new growth engines – new energy, media and consumer brands. I believe these businesses will build on Reliance's legacy of creating industry leaders, focused on technology and innovation to provide Indian consumers the right products and services at the right price," he said without elaborating.

Ambani said the conglomerate's initiatives in the AI domain are aimed at ensuring Reliance stays at the forefront of evolving technologies and leverage these capabilities for the benefit of India and Indians. PTI ANZ ANZ MR