Reliance Industries: Pioneering Today, Shaping Tomorrow

Last Updated on October 26, 2023

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is an economic powerhouse that doesn’t just span industries but also defines them. Reshaping telecommunications and digital technology, RIL has a knack for making the future its own. Join us as we dive into its world, that’s rewriting the rules and setting standards for scale and execution.

We will examine the catalysts and progression of both its energy and consumer businesses while gaining insights into the factors driving growth and their strategies for capital allocation.

Reliance Jio- Attractive oligopolistic market 

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) has redefined the Indian telecom landscape with affordable data, high-speed internet, and a range of digital services. Jio has connected millions, bridged the digital divide, and set new industry standards. It currently holds a 42% market share in Indian Telecom.

Performance:

In FY 2023, RJIL reported gross revenue of Rs. 1,19,791 Cr. The subscriber base at the end of the fiscal year stood at Rs. 44 Cr, with an EBITDA margin of 49%. These numbers were propelled by consistent market share growth, advantages stemming from reduced spectrum usage charges, and operating leverage benefits. Customer engagement on the Jio network witnessed an upswing, as reflected in per capita data consumption of 23.1 GB/month and voice usage of 1,003 minutes/month for Q4FY23.

Key Triggers & Developments:

The evolving landscape of the Indian telecom industry has led to a situation where only 2-3 major players exist. Most of the capital investments required for the industry have already been executed, signifying a shift in focus. Looking forward to the FY25, RJIL is poised to generate substantial free cashflows. The key challenge, therefore, lies in reinvesting these cashflows into ventures with high margins and high returns on equity (ROE), thus laying the groundwork for future growth and expansion.

Reliance Retail- Growth accelerating

Reliance Retail stands as India’s largest retail entity, holding the distinction of being the sole Indian retailer featured among the top 100 global retailers. It secures a place in the list of the world’s fastest-growing retailers, with a diverse presence in various segments through in-house brands and global partnerships. These brands include Superdry, Trends, Trends Footwear, AJIO, Azorte, Centro, Zivame, Clovia, and Amante.

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

Performance: 

Reliance Retail achieved revenue of Rs. 2.2 lakh Cr in FY23, this is about 5 times the revenues of Dmart. The EBITDA margin improved to 7.4% in FY23 from its earlier standing at 6.1%. Anticipated improvements in margins are attributed to a change in the revenue mix and the ramp-up of new stores. The sales per store trend has been positive, however, Sales per square feet of the store area has been benign because of recent store additions. 3 years sales & store growth has been 19% & 15% CAGR respectively.

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

New Initiatives:

E-Commerce: Reliance Retail is making strategic strides to bolster its online presence, with a strong focus on AJIO and JioMart. Moreover, the company has unveiled new brands, ‘Independence’ in FMCG and ‘Tira’ in Beauty & Personal Care. Notably, Reliance’s in-house FMCG brands are priced approximately 20-30% lower than competing brands.

Merchant Digitization: Recognizing the predominance of small merchants in India’s retail market, Reliance Retail is actively engaged in digitizing these businesses. This initiative not only creates a network for consumer brands and advertisers but also fosters substantial growth. The company currently collaborates with over 3 million partners and aims to extend its reach to cover more than 7,500 towns and 3 lakh villages.

Global investors interested in a piece of the pie

ADIA Investment: The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested $600 million in Reliance Retail at a valuation of $100 billion.

KKR & Co Inc Investment: KKR & Co Inc increased its stake in the company by investing an additional $250 million at a similar valuation of $100 billion.

Key Drivers & Developments:

The company undertook substantial expansion in its store space during FY23, increasing it to 66 million sq ft from 41.6 million sq. ft. A capital expenditure of about R. 22,000 Cr. was allocated during this period, with the fruits of revenue growth expected to manifest in the years ahead. Reliance is trying to build a house of brands strategy in the retail segment along with increasing E-commerce share with its flagship app AJIO.

Oil to Chemical- Steady state business

Under this segment, the company primarily refines crude oil to manufacture/ extract transportation fuels, polymers, and elastomers, intermediates, and polyesters. It has plants and manufacturing assets located across India in Jamnagar, Hazira, Dahej, Nagothane, Vadodara, and others. It has a crude refining capacity of 1.4 million barrels per day (MMBPD). It also has the largest single-site refinery complex globally with a complexity index of 21.1.

Performance:

In FY23, revenues increased on account of improved price realisation for transportation fuel, tracking higher average oil prices for the year. O2C business EBITDA stood at Rs. 62,075 Cr. with healthy 18% increase as compared to FY22 despite considering the Special Additional Excise Duty (Windfall Tax) levy of Rs. 6,648 Cr.

The integrated O2C business structure enables an integrated decision-making approach that helps to optimise the entire value chain from crude to refining to petrochemicals to the B2B/B2C model.

The growth in EBITDA can be attributed to factors such as enhanced feedstock flexibility, notable improvements in fuel cracks, and advantageous ethane cracking. A review of historical trends reveals the company’s consistent ability to maintain a stable EBITDA margin.

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

Outlook

The Oil to Chemical segment has made a significant contribution, accounting for ~41% of the total EBITDA in FY23. It is expected that oil prices and product margins will remain stable, especially as the global trade landscape readjusts in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Robust oil demand can be attributed to consistent domestic economic growth.

Domestic demand for polymers is likely to remain strong, primarily fueled by growth in e-commerce, packaging, durable goods, automotive, and infrastructure sectors. The pipe sector is expected to continue benefiting from infrastructure projects, ensuring sustained demand.

Oil to Gas- Ramp-up on higher production

Reliance Industries (RIL), as a fully integrated Exploration and production operator, holds the leading position in deepwater operations within India. Its domestic portfolio encompasses conventional oil and gas blocks located in the Krishna Godavari and Mahanadi basins, along with two Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks, Sohagpur (East) and Sohagpur (West) in Madhya Pradesh. The business has witnessed a notable increase in gas production primarily attributed to the expansion of production activities in the KGD6 block situated in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. In the FY23, gas production from this block has been significantly scaled up to 20 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD), contributing to approximately 20% of India’s total gas production.

Performance:

In FY23 the revenue has doubled and EBITDA multiplied 2.5x YoY to Rs. 13,589 Cr. The growth was primarily on account of improved gas price realisation and higher gas production in the KGD6 block. Domestic production was at a 10-year high. At peak production of ~30 MMSCMD KGD6 block will contribute ~30% to total domestic gas production.

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

Outlook

We expect that gas is expected to play a key role as a transition fuel and the share of gas in the energy mix is expected to increase from 6% to 15% by CY 2030. Reliance’s current portfolio mix is ideally placed for helping meet this increased demand. At their peak, RIL can expect to produce nearly 30% of India’s domestic production. Further exploration efforts are underway to augment the gas reserves.

New Energy – Preparing for a greener future

RIL has a vision to build one of the world’s leading new energy and new materials businesses with the aim of bridging the green energy divide in India and globally. As part of this RIL, has made a strategic investment of ~Rs. 6,700 Cr till FY23.

Source: Company data, moneyworks4me research

The company’s strategic vision involves forming partnerships with prominent global technology providers, with the aim of expediting and facilitating the achievement of a minimum of 100 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy generation by the year 2030.

Conclusion:

Across the sectors, RIL is well placed to capitalize on growth driven by targeting attractive markets with proven executional capabilities and unparalleled reach across India through physical as well as digital channels.  This growth is coupled with prudent capital allocation – free cash flow from both O2C and Jio platforms is deployed in value-accretive, high-margin projects with a focus on improving returns. Optionality arises from plans to build data centers, acquire new retail brands, expand existing brand portfolios globally, and scale up media offerings.

Check out the 10 Year X-ray of RIL

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