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Bloomberg
Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s most valuable company led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, reported a 15% decline in profit for the quarter through September, as the coronavirus pandemic gutted demand for transportation fuels.
Net income fell to 95.7 billion rupees ($1.28 billion) from 112.6 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said in an exchange filing. That compares with the average 90.17 billion-rupee profit estimated by analysts.
Revenue at the refining-to-retail conglomerate fell 24% to 1.16 trillion rupees.
Reliance is among oil refining giants slammed by a plunge in demand for
transportation and aviation fuels as the raging pandemic stifled demand, forced
people to stay home and pushed many economies into recession.
Reliance is in the midst of a transformation led by Ambani, 63, as he looks to mold the oil-and-petrochemicals giant into a technology titan by boosting its telecom and e-commerce businesses.
The earnings also underscore the growing need for the conglomerate to pare its dependence on the energy sector and pivot to consumer businesses that aim to tap India’s population of more than a billion.
Ambani’s bet on digital and retail services in India has won investments of more than $25 billion from investors including Google and Facebook Inc this year despite the pandemic. Reliance also raised $7 billion through a rights issue.