Reliance Industries on Monday posted a net profit of Rs 18,951 crore in the March quarter (Q4) of FY24, a 1.8 per cent decrease in its net profit compared to the previous year but revenue at Rs 264,834 crore grew 10.8 per cent year-on-year, supported by double-digit growth in oil to chemical and consumer business. Furthermore, EBITDA saw a yoy growth of 16.1 per cent, reaching Rs 178,677 crore with positive contribution from all key operating segments. The conglomerate also announced an interim dividend Rs 10 per equity share for the financial year ended 31 March, 2024.

On an annual basis, RIL’s gross revenue at Rs 1,000,122 crore (USD 119.9 billion), was up 2.6 per cent yoy, supported by continued growth momentum in consumer businesses and upstream business. Revenue for JPL increased by 11.7 per cent yoy, led by robust subscriber growth of 42.4 million across mobility and homes and benefit of mix improvement in ARPU. Revenue for RRVL grew by 17.8 per cent yoy with strong growth across all consumption baskets, gross area addition of 15.6 million square feet and record footfalls of over a one billion.

Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, RIL, attributed “remarkable contribution” of initiatives across RIL’s businesses towards fostering growth of various sectors of the Indian economy with all segments posting robust financial and operating performance. “This has helped the company achieve multiple milestones. I am happy to share that this year, Reliance became the first Indian company to cross the Rs 100,000-crore threshold in pre-tax profits,” said Ambani.

The March quarter financial results on 22 April show that while JIO platforms (JPL) EBITDA increased 12.8 per cent with higher revenue and margin improvement, Reliance retail (RRVL) EBITDA increased sharply by 28.5 per cent with margin expansion of 60 bps to 8.4 per cent. Oil and gas EBITDA increased sharply by 48.6 per cent, led by higher gas and condensate production with the commissioning of the MJ field during the year. Revenue for O2C decreased by 5.0 per cent primarily on account of lower product price realization following a 13.5 per cent yoy decline in average Brent crude oil prices. This was partially offset by higher volumes. Revenue from oil and gas segment increased significantly by 48.0 per cent mainly on account of higher volumes from KG D6 block (which was up 56.8 per cent, despite lower gas price realization from KG D6 field.

Strong demand for fuels globally, and limited flexibility in refining system worldwide, supported margins and profitability of the O2C segment. Downstream chemical industry experienced increasingly challenging market conditions through the year but maintaining leading product positions and feedstock flexibility through the operating model that prioritizes cost management, we delivered a resilient performance. The KG-D6 block has achieved 30 MMSCMD of production and now accounts for 30 per cent of India’s domestic gas production.

Finance costs of RIL increased by 18.1 per cent yoy to ₹ 23,118 crore (USD 2.8 billion) due to higher liability balances and higher market interest rates. Tax Expenses increased by 26.2 per cent yoy to ₹ 25,707 crore on account of utilization of tax credits in the previous financial year. Profit after tax increased by 7.3 per cent yoy to ₹ 79,020 crore.

Performance of the digital services segment has been boosted by accelerated expansion of the subscriber base, supported by both mobility and fixed wireless services. With over 108 million True 5G customers, Jio truly leads the 5G transformation in India.

Amidst an impending NCLT hearing spurred by investor discontent, Byju’s disburses partial salaries, paying teachers and lower-level staff in full while others receive 50 to 100 percent of their March dues.

As the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) hearing looms on Tuesday, edtech giant Byju’s has reportedly disbursed partial salaries to its employees for the month of March. Sources revealed that Byju’s founder and CEO, Raveendran, has personally raised debt to fulfill part of the March payroll obligations.

According to sources, teachers and staff at lower levels have received their full salaries, while others have been paid between 100 to 50 percent of their dues for March. This development comes just before the NCLT hearing scheduled for April 23, concerning an oppression and mismanagement plea filed by four investors of Byju’s.

The plea, filed by Peak XV Partners, Prosus NV, General Atlantic, and Sofina SA, contests Byju’s decision to raise a USD 200 million rights issue. In response, Raveendran reportedly resorted to personal debt to meet payroll requirements amidst the ongoing legal proceedings.

The funds raised from the recent rights issue are currently held in an escrow account per NCLT orders until the resolution of the aforementioned case. Byju’s aims to ensure salary payments for all employees, prioritizing teachers and teaching support staff, who are deemed essential to the company’s operations.

However, some staff members’ salaries for the second half of February remain outstanding. Byju’s had previously disbursed a portion of pending salaries for all employees for February in mid-March, with a promise to settle the balance once access to funds from the rights issue is permitted.

Over the past 12 months, Byju’s has faced significant challenges, resulting in layoffs of over 10,000 employees. These challenges include a slowdown in demand for online learning services and a downturn in venture capital funding. Consequently, several investors have departed, citing disagreements with Raveendran.

In an attempt to address these issues, Byju’s has taken steps to rectify its course. Early investor Ranjan Pai injected additional capital into the company and established an advisory council featuring industry veterans such as Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar.

Despite these efforts, the company continues to grapple with financial constraints and legal challenges, reflecting the broader uncertainties facing India’s edtech sector. Byju’s, once hailed as a unicorn success story, now finds itself navigating turbulent waters as it seeks to restore investor confidence and stabilize its operations.

The outcome of the NCLT hearing and Byju’s ability to address its financial and managerial challenges will likely have far-reaching implications for the company’s future trajectory and the broader landscape of India’s burgeoning edtech industry. As stakeholders await the tribunal’s decision, the edtech giant faces a pivotal moment in its journey towards sustainability and growth.

The saga surrounding Byju’s financial woes and legal battles underscores the volatility and complexity of India’s edtech landscape. With mounting pressure from investors and regulatory scrutiny, the company faces a critical juncture in its journey. As it navigates through these challenges, Byju’s must prioritize transparency, accountability, and strategic decision-making to regain trust and chart a sustainable path forward. The outcome of the NCLT hearing will undoubtedly shape the company’s trajectory and influence the broader edtech ecosystem in India.

Tesla slashed $2,000 off the prices of three out of its five models in the United States, reflecting the challenges faced by the electric vehicle manufacturer led by billionaire Elon Musk. The price reductions applied to the Model Y, Tesla’s bestselling electric vehicle in the US, along with the Models X and S, its older and pricier models. However, prices for the Model 3 sedan and the Cybertruck remained unchanged. Consequently, the starting price for a Model Y dropped to $42,990, while the Model S and Model X now start at $72,990 and $77,990, respectively.

The move came the day after Tesla’s stock tumbled below USD 150 per share, eliminating all gains made over the past year. The Austin, Texas, company’s stock price has dropped about 40 per cent so far this year amid falling sales and increased competition. Discounted sticker prices are a way to try to entice more car buyers. Musk posted early Saturday on X, the social media platform known as Twitter before he acquired and renamed it, that the cost of an entry-level Tesla was as low as USD 29,490 once a federal tax credit and gas savings were factored in.

Industry analysts have been waiting for Tesla to introduce a small electric vehicle that would cost around USD 25,000, the Model 2. Media reports this month that Musk planned to scrap the project created more uncertainty over the company’s direction, although Musk called them untrue.

The price cuts ended a long workweek at Tesla, which announced Monday that it was cutting 10 per cent of its staff globally, about 14,000 jobs. The company also said it was recalling nearly 4,000 of its 2024 Cybertrucks after discovering the accelerator pedal can get stuck, potentially causing the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally and increase the risk of a crash.

On Saturday, Musk confirmed he had postponed a planned weekend trip to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations.” He said on X that he looked forward to rescheduling the visit for later this year.

Tesla is scheduled to announce its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. The company reported earlier this month that its worldwide sales fell sharply from January through March as competition increased worldwide, electric vehicle sales growth slowed, and earlier price cuts failed to lure more buyers. It was Tesla’s first year-over-year quarterly sales decline in nearly four years.

The highly anticipated visit of Elon Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle giant Tesla, to India has been temporarily put on hold. “Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X, on April 20.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk on the X platform wrote, “Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India,” on April 10, 2024. Elon Musk was scheduled to meet PM Modi on April 22 in New Delhi. Musk and PM Modi last met in New York in June, and Tesla has continued for months lobbying India to lower import taxes on electric vehicles while it weighed up a factory in the country.

According to the Hindu Businessline report, Tesla has been on the hunt for a local partner to establish an EV unit in India. Citing sources, the English daily said Tesla is in talks with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL) to form a joint venture to set up an EV facility in the country. Additionally, the Financial Times earlier this month reported that Elon Musk had sent a team to India in April to scout for sites for a proposed $2 billion to $3 billion electric car plant.

Musk was reportedly poised to disclose plans for injecting nearly ₹3 billion into the Indian market, primarily earmarked for the establishment of a new manufacturing facility. Meanwhile, the license application of Musk’s satellite venture Starlink is under process, and the government is examining the security aspects, news agency PTI reported citing sources. The FDI and financial aspects are in sync with the requirements and conditions, the report said, adding that the ownership ‘declaration’ has also been received from Starlink.

Ultratech Cement, on April 20, announced its acquisition of a grinding unit from India Cements in Maharashtra for Rs 315 crore.

On Saturday, Ultratech Cement’s Board of Directors approved the acquisition of a grinding unit in Parli, Maharashtra, from India Cement for Rs 315 crore. This unit has a capacity of 1.1 mtpa along with a captive railway siding. Ultratech has signed an asset purchase agreement with India Cement for this transaction. According to a statement by the Aditya Birla Group company, this acquisition will bolster its presence in Maharashtra’s burgeoning markets. This move is part of Ultratech’s plan to expand its brownfield capacity, aiming to add 3 mtpa by the fiscal year 2025-26. The proposed expansion includes 1.2 million tonne per annum in Parli, Maharashtra, and 1.8 million tonne per annum in Dhule, Maharashtra, with a planned investment of Rs 504 crore.

The investment planned will be met through internal accruals. Ultratech is the country’s largest cement manufacturer with 147.3 million tonne per annum capacity. The company plans to take its grey cement capacity to 178 mtpa by financial year 2026-27.

In the December quarter of the financial year 2023-24, Ultratech Cement entered Jharkhand with the acquisition of 0.54 million tonne per annum (mtpa) grinding capacity from Burnpur Cement Limited. The company also plans to add 14.7 million tonne per annum Greenfield capacity in the financial year 2024-25. Adani group, which acquired Ambuja Cement, ACC, and Sanghi Industries over the past two years, is now the second-largest cement manufacturer in the country with 78.9 million tonne per annum capacity.

Netflix Inc. experienced its strongest beginning to a year since 2020, surpassing expectations by attracting a higher number of new subscribers. This was attributed to a robust lineup of original content and measures taken to address password sharing. According to a statement released on Thursday, the company added 9.33 million customers in the first quarter of 2024, nearly doubling the average analysts’ estimate of 4.84 million. Netflix’s customer growth spanned across global markets, with notable strength observed in the US and Canada.

These new subscriptions contributed to the company exceeding forecasts for both revenue and earnings. Despite the growth, Netflix shares were down 4.6 percent to $582.70 at 6:03 p.m. New York time. They were up 25 percent this year through the close of regular trading Thursday.

Expectations for Netflix’s first quarter had soared in recent days, as one analyst after another published rosy forecasts. In its letter to investors Thursday, the company said subscriber gains will be lower this period, while revenue will increase 16 percent. Netflix also said it will stop reporting paid quarterly membership and revenue per subscriber, starting with the first quarter of 2025. Those metrics have long been the primary way Wall Street evaluated the company’s performance, but Netflix has tried to shift the focus to traditional measures like sales and profit. Management will continue to report major subscriber milestones.

“The movement to no longer disclose quarterly subscriptions from next year will not go down well,” Paolo Pescatore, founder and analyst at PP Foresight, said in an email. “More so given the subscriber growth that the streaming king has seen over the last year.”

Netflix has rebounded from a slowdown in 2021 and 2022 to grow at its fastest rate since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. That is due in large part to its crackdown on people who were using someone else’s account. The company estimated more than 100 million people were using an account for which they didn’t pay. While executives at Netflix feared a backlash from customers, the company has been able to convince millions of moochers to pay for access.

Those new customers have had plenty to watch. Netflix has delivered a new hit every couple of weeks so far this year, including limited series such as “Fool Me Once” and “Griselda,” the dramas “The Gentleman” and “3 Body Problem,” and the reality show “Love Is Blind.” The streaming service accounts for about 8 percent of TV viewing in the US — and is a leading TV network in most of the world’s major media markets.

“With more than two people per household on average, we have an audience of over half a billion people,” the company said in its letter. “No entertainment company has ever programmed at this scale and with this ambition before.” The recent growth has lifted Netflix shares back toward record highs, giving the company a market value of more than $260 billion. It set an all-time closing high of $691.69 in November 2021.

Some analysts worry that Netflix is once again trading at a valuation that far exceeds the fundamentals of the business. The company delivered sales of $9.33 billion, rising 15 percent and beating estimates of $9.26 billion. Net income grew to $2.33 billion, or $5.28 a share, also above projections. Those figures are below companies with smaller market values, the boost from the crackdown on account sharing is temporary, and Netflix executives have been reluctant to put a firm timetable on when that growth would stop.

Yet even skeptical analysts have been impressed with the company’s recent performance, lifting their price targets for investors. To sustain its growth going forward, Netflix has also introduced a cheaper, advertising-supported version of its service targeting cost-conscious customers. It’s also begun to invest in live programming, including stand-up specials, wrestling, and an upcoming boxing match.

About 40 percent of Netflix’s new customers are selecting the advertising option in markets where it’s available, the company said.