Jio Platforms Q3 profit rises 11% as higher-value users drive growth

IPO-bound Jio Platforms on Friday reported steady growth in the October-December quarter (Q3FY26), continuing its recent trend of modest sequential earnings on the back of subscriber additions, home broadband growth and a push towards higher value customers.

Jio Platforms, which houses Reliance Industries Ltd’s telecommunications and digital services business, reported 3.4% sequential growth in net profit and 11.2% year-on-year growth. ₹7,629 crore during the quarter.

The company’s operating income increased by 2.5% compared to the previous quarter and 12.7% annually. ₹37,262 crore in line with street estimates. Jio said the revenue growth was driven by strong subscriber addition, Arpu growth and expansion of digital services.

Analysts expected the results to be largely smooth and steady growth in the absence of tariff increases.

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In the September quarter, the company’s revenue from operations increased 3.7% sequentially and 14.6% annually. ₹36,332 crore. Made a net profit ₹7,375 crore was achieved in this quarter with a growth of 3.7% sequentially and 12.8% y-o-y.

“This quarter, Jio further expanded its subscriber base through attractive offerings enabled by its comprehensive, home-grown technology stack designed specifically for Indian markets,” Mukesh D. Ambani, chairman and chief executive officer of Reliance Industries, said in a statement.

Jio’s consistent performance is important as it plans to list on stock exchanges by mid-2026. A higher Arpu, short for average revenue per user, and increased profitability would make it more attractive to investors and support a higher valuation for the IPO.

Jio’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 16.4% year-on-year and 2.9% sequentially. ₹19,303 crore in the December quarter. EBITDA margin increased by 170 basis points year-on-year and marginally sequentially. The company stated that EBITDA growth was driven by higher revenue and margin improvement

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telecom business

The company’s main telecom vertical under Reliance Jio Infocomm saw its Arpu continue to rise during the quarter, driven by increased data consumption and positive subscriber mix as more users migrated from 2G to 4G/5G and upgraded to higher data tiers.

Monthly Arpu increased by 1.1% respectively ₹from 213.7 ₹211.4 at the end of September. Promotional 5G offers and lack of tariff increases continue to constrain growth at the company’s Arpu.

In comparison, Bharti Airtel’s Arpu stood at: ₹256 at the end of September. The company has not yet announced its earnings for the December quarter.

“Indian telecom operators are increasing tariffs by 15-20% every two years and we expect the next tariff increase in June/July 2026. The last three meaningful tariff increases occurred in July 2024, November 2021 and November 2019,” brokerage firm BNP Paribas said in a note dated January 12. he said.

Reliance Jio net added 8.9 million subscribers in the December quarter, taking its subscriber base to 515.3 million. The company added 8.3 million subscribers in the previous quarter.

Jio Airfiber is the first FWA service to cross 10 million subscribers globally, the company said.

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