Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), which runs the country's largest mobile network operator Reliance Jio, on Monday reported a 23.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit for the second quarter (July-September) in Rs 6,539 crore. ) from FY25. Its results were boosted by higher telecommunications tariffs imposed at the beginning of July. On a sequential basis, the holding company of Jio and Reliance Group's other digital businesses saw its net profit grow 14.7%.
In the second quarter, Jio's annual net profit growth accelerated compared to growth of 11.7% and 12% in the previous two quarters. As a result, the telco's average revenue per user (RPU) increased to Rs 191.5 in the second quarter after remaining unchanged for four consecutive months at Rs 181.7. Annualized, Arpu was 7.4% higher in the second quarter. The company said partial tracking of the tariff increase and a better customer mix ensured this. “The full impact of the tariff increase will occur in the next 2 to 3 quarters,” he said.
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In the second quarter, revenue from operations grew 18 percent to Rs 31,709 crore over the previous year. Revenue increased by 12.8% in the previous quarter. The increase in operating income was mainly driven by the partial impact of tariff increases and the expansion of home and digital services businesses, the company said. Jio Platform's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter was a record Rs 15,931 crore, an increase of 17.8% year-on-year.
Customer loss
Jio said 148 million customers migrated to Jio's 5G network and accounted for 34% of Jio's wireless data traffic, up from 31% and 28%, respectively, in the previous quarters. The telecom giant emphasized that its 5G users now represent the largest 5G customer base for any telecom operator outside of China.
However, Jio Platforms lost 10.9 million subscribers in the last quarter after 7 consecutive quarters of user growth. It had 478.8 million subscribers in the second quarter, down from 489.7 million at the end of the first quarter. The company acknowledged that limited SIM consolidation was seen following the tariff increase, offsetting continued strength in gross adds in the second quarter, while monthly churn increased to 2.8%.
However, even before the tariff hike came into effect, Jio's subscriber numbers declined. It gained 7.9 million, 10.9 million and 11 million subscribers in the previous three quarters.
Network engagement was strong, with total data and voice traffic growing 24% and 6.4% year-over-year, respectively. In the first quarter, the company said Jio became the largest global operator in terms of data traffic. The per capita data consumption of Jio users has increased to 31 GB per month, or more than 1 GB/day.
Jio announced that it is now the fastest growing fixed wireless operator globally with over 2.8 million JioAirfiber connections. Initially launched in 8 cities in September last year, JioAirFiber is now available in over 5,900 cities. The service is expected to accelerate Jio's residential penetration into over 100 million homes. Jio recorded its highest number of quarterly household connections of over 1.1 million.
“Since inception, Jio has focused on deep technology innovations to create value for customers and shareholders. The ongoing transformation created by Jio True5G and JioAirFiber in India's digital landscape is a testament to this approach,” said Akash M Ambani, President, Reliance Jio Infocomm.