Reliance's Market Capitalisation Falls Below Rs 15 Trillion, Stock Falls 9% In 6 Days

Reliance Industries (RIL) shares hit a new 52-week low of Rs 2,207.35 on the BSE on Thursday, falling 1.3 per cent in intraday trade. The stock of India's most valuable company in terms of market capitalisation (market cap) was trading lower for the sixth consecutive trading day, falling 9 per cent during this period.

RIL was trading at its lowest level since 8 March 2022, when it fell to Rs 2,181 in intraday trade.

RIL's market capitalisation fell below Rs 15 trillion today due to a sharp drop in its stock price. According to BSE data, RIL's market capitalization was Rs 14.94 trillion at 09:38 a.m.

Previously, on 6 December 2021, RIL's market capitalisation was Rs 14.99 trillion on a closing-level basis. According to CapitalinePlus data, the company's market capitalisation has fallen by Rs 4.12 trillion from its all-time high of Rs 19.07 trillion on April 28, 2022.

RIL has also underperformed the market in the last three months, falling 14 per cent versus a 7 per cent drop in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Reliance Jio launched a new set of postpaid family plans, Jio Plus, on Tuesday, in which a family of four can try services for free for a month. Plans starting at Rs 399 have been launched ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on 31 March. The tournament is owned by Reliance-backed Viacom 18 and will be available for free on Jio Cinema apps.

Jio has been slow to expand in the postpaid segment, and the move pits it against Bharti Airtel, which has seen an increase in postpaid subscriptions in recent months.

So far, Jio has lagged in the postpaid segment (largely given the sticky nature of the customer base). According to ICICI Securities, the above plans are primarily aimed at capturing Vodafone Idea's postpaid base, which has seen superior churn to Airtel in the past.

Meanwhile, following the October-December quarter (Q3FY23) results, Prabhudas Lilladher analysts reduced their FY23-25E earnings by 4 per cent-0.3 per cent to account for higher finance charges due to rising interest rates, lower other income, and higher tax charges due to lower tax credits.