Reliance to buy stake in Den, Hathway Cable

RIL also announced an acquisition of majority stakes in Den Networks Ltd and Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd for Rs 5,230 cr to bring under its fold 27,000 local cable operators who would help strengthen its rollout of fibre-based broadband service to households for offering ultra high definition entertainment on large screen TVs.

Its consolidated net profit of Rs 9,516 cr in the second quarter of current fiscal, was 17.4 per cent higher than Rs 8,109 cr in the same period of the previous financial year, the company said. Revenue jumped 54.5 per cent to Rs 1,56,291 cr.

Its retail business, which comprises 9,146 stores across 5,800-plus towns and cities, saw pre-tax business profit jump 213 pc to Rs 1,392 cr on the back of doubling of revenues to Rs 32,436 cr.

Reliance Jio, the group’s telecom arm, posted a standalone net profit of Rs 681 cr, which was 11.3 per cent more than the previous quarter as subscriber base swelled to 252.3 mn. The petrochemical business saw pre-tax profits jump by 63.7 per cent to Rs 8,120 crore. The operator of world’s largest oil refining complex saw pre-tax earnings from the business decline for the second quarter in a row. It fell 19.6 per cent to Rs 5,322 crore as margins dipped.