

Reliance Industries: Is FMCG the next big bet?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) December quarter (Q3FY26) results are muted. Consolidated net profit attributable to owners remained flat year-on-year to ₹18,645 crore; while Ebitda inched up by 5% to ₹46,018 crore.
Net profit attributable to owners is more important than Ebitda as the latter includes earnings attributable to minority shareholders. However, Ebitda has to be analyzed to understand the operational performance, as net profit includes other income, which is non-operational in nature. RIL’s telecom business is likely to be listed by June, followed by the retail business.
This leaves the O2C (oil-to-chemicals) segment as vital for the standalone financials. Benchmark Singapore gross refining margin (GRM) increased 50% year-on-year in Q3FY26 to $7.50 per barrel. This should have translated into significant Ebitda growth.
However, the O2C Ebitda grew at a much slower pace of 15% to ₹16,507 crore, with volume growth in crude oil processed at just 2%. While lower discounts on Russian crude oil could have been a dampener, a dull show from the petrochemical sub-segment within O2C also weighed on profitability. The drop in petrochemical product prices across the chain hurt earnings.
The exploration and production (E&P) segment remains vulnerable to the natural decline in KG D6 gas volumes, which dropped 10% year-on-year (y-o-y) in Q3 to 61.8 billion cubic feet. Thus, E&P Ebitda declined 13% to ₹4,857 crore even as gas price realization was marginally lower. The net revenue of RIL’s retail vertical was up 9% y-o-y to ₹86,951 crore.
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