Reliance Industries Posts Record Q1 Profit, Led by Jio and Retail Surge
India’s largest conglomerate, Reliance Industries, has kicked off the fiscal year 2026 with a financial performance that’s hard to ignore. The company, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, posted its highest-ever consolidated quarterly EBITDA and net profit in Q1FY26, aided by strong performances across its telecom, retail, and oil-to-chemicals businesses.
“Consolidated EBITDA for Q1FY26 improved strongly from a year-ago period, despite significant volatility in global macros,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries.
Let’s walk through the numbers and what they may signal for the months ahead.
Timeline of Events
- Q1FY26 (April–June 2025): Reliance posts record profits and EBITDA.
- Jio crosses 20 crore 5G subscribers and reaches 2 crore home broadband connections.
- Retail adds 388 new stores; total store count nears 20,000.
- JioStar scores strong IPL viewership and advertising gains.
- Company records capex of nearly Rs 30,000 crore for the quarter.
Bottomline
Reliance’s Q1 profit soared 76.5% year-on-year to Rs 30,783 crore—the highest quarterly profit the company has ever recorded. The previous year’s figure stood at Rs 17,445 crore. Even when adjusted to exclude proceeds from the sale of listed investments, profit grew a solid 25% YoY.
Other income jumped to Rs 15,119 crore. That includes Rs 8,924 crore from divesting listed investments. Finance costs rose nearly 19% YoY to Rs 7,036 crore, mainly due to the operational launch of 5G spectrum assets. Tax expenses went up too—to Rs 6,465 crore, which is 11.7% more than the previous year.
Topline
Total revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 2.73 lakh crore, rising 6% from Rs 2.57 lakh crore in Q1FY25. Double-digit gains at Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail drove this revenue leap.
Operating Performance
EBITDA surged 35.7% on-year to Rs 58,024 crore. Margins saw a powerful lift too—rising from 16.6% last year to 21.2% in Q1FY26. Telecom, retail, and oil-to-chemicals (O2C) continued their impressive performances, each contributing significantly to the EBITDA margin expansion of 460 basis points.
Jio Platforms: Digital Engine Pushing Ahead
Revenue jumped 18.8% YoY to Rs 41,054 crore, supported by subscriber additions in both mobile and home broadband segments, as well as increased data consumption.
Profit rose by a striking 24.9% YoY to Rs 7,110 crore, while EBITDA climbed 23.9% YoY, reaching Rs 18,135 crore. Jio’s EBITDA margin expanded by 210 basis points, now standing at a sharp 51.8%.
“Jio has scaled newer heights, including crossing 20 crore 5G subscribers and 2 crore home connects,” said Ambani. “Jio AirFiber is now the largest FWA service provider in the world, with a base of 74 lakh subscribers.”
Some quick highlights:
- Total subscribers: 49.8 crore
- Net additions: 99 lakh this quarter
- Average revenue per user (ARPU): Rs 208.8, up from Rs 181.7
- Data traffic: 54.7 billion GB, up 24% YoY
Reliance Retail: Growth Maintained, Footprint Expanded
Reliance Retail Ventures posted a 33.2% YoY increase in profit, reaching Rs 3,267 crore. Total revenue came in at Rs 84,171 crore, up 11.3% YoY. The company opened 388 new stores in this quarter alone, pushing its total outlets to an impressive 19,592.
EBITDA rose 12.7% to Rs 6,381 crore, and margin expanded to 8.7%—a 20 bps improvement.
The company reported strong performance in grocery and fashion segments, but consumer electronics faced some early monsoon-related headwinds. “Recovery is underway,” Reliance said in an update.
Oil-To-Chemicals: Resilience Amid Uncertainty
The O2C segment clocked an EBITDA of Rs 14,511 crore for Q1FY26, up 10.8% YoY. While margins expanded 110 bps to 9.4%, revenue slightly dipped by 1.5% YoY to Rs 1.55 lakh crore due to lower crude oil prices and reduced volumes from planned shutdowns.
Still, higher fuel and downstream product margins powered growth. Jio-bp’s expanding retail fuel network also gave the segment a lift—outlets grew to 1,991 from 1,730 in the same quarter last year.
Oil & Gas: Slower Volume, Higher Operating Costs
This segment delivered revenues of Rs 6,103 crore, down 1.2% YoY, impacted by lower gas and crude prices and declining volume output. EBITDA fell 4.1% to Rs 4,996 crore, steering margins down to 81.9%.
KGD6 gas realized an average price of $9.97 per MMBTU, while CBM gas fetched a lower $9.90 per MMBTU compared to $11.59 a year prior. KGD6 production dropped 7.9% to 63.9 BCFe, but CBM output rose 21.7% to 2.8 BCFe.
JioStar: Big Wins on Small Screens
JioStar, part of Reliance’s growing media empire, posted record revenues of Rs 11,222 crore. EBITDA came in at Rs 1,017 crore with a net profit of Rs 581 crore.
The IPL season proved lucrative, driving viewership to 28.7 crore on JioHotstar. TV audiences topped 80 crore across India. JioStar now commands a 35.5% share in Entertainment TV thanks to its push into the Hindi GEC segment.
Capex: Investing in Scale
Reliance spent Rs 29,875 crore in capital expenditure during the quarter, excluding spectrum costs. The figure is slightly higher than the Rs 28,785 crore from the previous fiscal’s Q1.
Cash and Debt Position
Cash and cash equivalents ended the quarter at Rs 2.2 lakh crore, up from Rs 1.92 lakh crore a year ago. Outstanding debt rose to Rs 3.38 lakh crore, compared to Rs 3.05 lakh crore in Q1FY25. That brings the net debt to Rs 1.17 lakh crore, marginally higher than last year’s Rs 1.12 lakh crore.
What’s Next?
Mukesh Ambani sees this as just another step on a long journey. He reiterated confidence in the company’s goal of “doubling every 4–5 years,” something few firms of this size even attempt, let alone achieve.
With a portfolio that spans digital services, media, fuels, fashion, and food—and a growing dominance in each—Reliance’s Q1 could be the start of yet another upward cycle. As always, it will come down to execution, timing, and adaptability. For now, though, all signs point to momentum firmly in its corner.
