Highlights of RIL’s retail performance for the current quarter results

CONSOLIDATED RELIANCE RETAIL

Annual Performance

• Reliance Retail delivers a resilient performance against the backdrop of an unprecedented and challenging operating environment, arising from the COVID pandemic situation that emerged at the start of the year.

• Reliance Retail delivered Gross Revenue of ₹ 1,57,629 crore. Overall revenues (after adjusting for the impact of the transfer out of the Petro retailing business) grew at 2% Y-o-Y despite store closures (80% stores operational), lower footfalls (65% of last year) and operational disruptions through the year.

• At an EBITDA of ₹ 9,789 crore for FY21, the business posted its all-time high profit, driven by the gradual rebound of revenue streams, judicious cost management initiatives and boosted by higher investment income.

• Net profit for the year was ₹ 5,481 crore ($ 750 million) higher by 0.6%.

• Cash Profit for the year was ₹ 7,457 crore ($ 1.0 billion) lower by 3.1%.

The thrust on expansion and transformation continued particularly on strengthening omni-channel and digital platform capabilities and scaling up New Commerce.

• As operating curbs were lifted, new store openings resumed with 1,456 stores being added. This notably would be amongst the highest offline expansions undertaken by any retailer across the world in the COVID-constrained context.

• The total store count stood at 12,711 stores, covering 33.8 million sq ft. at the end of the year.

• The business continued to attract and serve millions of customers across the country far and wide.

The registered customer base now stands at 156 million, a growth of 25% Y-o-Y.

• The business generated >65,000 new jobs even in a year like this, bringing to life its mission to enhance livelihoods, whilst enabling positive societal impact not just for its employees but the broader ecosystem within which it operates.

• In what is the largest fund raise in the consumer/retail sector in India, Reliance Retail raised ₹ 47,265 crore for 10.09% stake from marquee global investors.

Quarterly Performance

• 4Q FY21 was a landmark quarter for the business with quarterly Revenue and EBITDA at an alltime high despite lesser than normative operating conditions.

• Gross Revenue at ₹ 47,064 crore, grew 24% Q-o-Q and 23% Y-o-Y and EBITDA at ₹ 3,617 crore, was up 17% Q-o-Q and 41% Y-o-Y.

• Revenue growth stood at 35% Y-o-Y (excluding the impact of the transfer out of the Petro retailing business) was broad based across all consumption baskets.

. Grocery and Fashion & Lifestyle registered all-time high revenues and the strong growth in Consumer Electronics, was bolstered by higher Jio devices sales.

• EBITDA growth was enabled by doubling of Consumer Electronics profits, continued benefits from cost management initiatives and a boost from investment income of ₹ 534 crore.

• Net profit for the quarter was ₹ 2,247 crore ($ 307 million) higher by 45% Y-o-Y; 23% Q-o-Q

• Cash Profit for the quarter was ₹ 2,773 crore ($ 379 million) higher by 30% Y-o-Y; 12% Q-o-Q

• The business opened 826 stores during the quarter, higher than all previous quarters combined, reflecting the acceleration in the pace of new store expansion.

• The Digital Commerce business led by JioMart, continued to scale up on portfolio, traffic and customer base, while New Commerce continued to onboard merchant partners across consumption baskets with extended geographical coverage.

Consumer Electronics

• Consumer Electronics posted strong double-digit growth, led by broad based performance across stores, digital commerce and Jio devices.

• Impactful activation, affordability programs and exclusive product deals enabled strong sales.

•        Productivity devices, Appliances, TVs and ACs did particularly well.

• The performance for the quarter was bolstered by a step up in Devices sales, led by the relaunch of Jio Phone.

• A range of new offerings under the licensed brands of BPL and Kelvinator were launched and rolled out across general trade retailers, including a foray into the electricals category.

Fashion & Lifestyle

• Apparel & Footwear business delivered a strong quarter of double-digit growth, led by higher conversions and bill values.

• Trends has truly democratized fashion with 2x growth in revenues from smaller towns, which contributed to >55% of revenues.

• 4Q FY21 saw strong execution of the Spring Summer collection bringing fashion freshness to all stores. Men’s Casual & Women Indian Wear did particularly well.

• The own brands portfolio was further strengthened with the launch of 9 brands. In footwear, own brands which provide high quality, contemporary design and a strong value proposition, now contribute to 60% of business.

• AJIO sustained its strong momentum with 4x growth in revenues and a marked improvement across customer metrics and operating parameters over last year

• Merchant relationships were further extended to 2,265 cities, as over 650 new brands were onboarded, scaling up product offerings by 3x during the quarter.

• Jewelry continued its strong growth trajectory with revenues growing 1.8x Y-oY. The business continued to leverage its design capabilities to launch a range of new collections that were impactfully activated on events and festivals.

• Reliance Jewels was acclaimed to be the “Most Admired Emerging Retail Brand of the Year” at Mapic India Retail Awards, a strong testament to the progress it has made to emerge as a leading and contemporary brand in the jewelry space.

In the Luxury and Premium Brands business, digital commerce revenues grew 3X over last year.

The launch of Ajio Luxe now makes a curated selection of the finest fashion and lifestyle brands digitally accessible for its discerning customers.

• The business continues to expand its position as a preferred partner to global brands, as it launched the first store of Tory Burch in Delhi.

Grocery

• Grocery hit its all-time high revenues with a strong double-digit growth Q-o-Q, as it continued to serve the needs of customers across the country, particularly for essentials post the emergence of the COVID situation.

• The business continued to set new records as it served over 1 million customers on the Republic Day sale activity, across stores and JioMart.

• From a portfolio perspective, staples and processed food categories continued to drive growth. The own brand portfolio was further strengthened with new products launches across Instant Food, Staples & HPC categories.

• 3x growth in JioMart Kirana partnerships over last quarter with reach extended to 10 new cities and taking the count to 33 cities. With a strong value proposition and uninterrupted service despite operating constraints, JioMart continues to win the trust of Kirana partners.

Overall, given the operating environment in the quarter, which by and large remained at par with the previous quarter (94% of stores operational, footfalls at 88% of pre-COVID levels), the business has delivered a strong performance that reflects a recovery since the pandemic set in. However, the emergence of the second COVID wave in March has led to fresh curbs and resultant disruptions, adversely impacting footfalls, sentiment and operations. The business is well positioned and committed to relentlessly serve its customers in this volatile and uncertain environment and is taking decisive actions to secure its people as a foremost priority in these trying times.

Jothi.S