India In-Focus – Reliance Industries profits up; Budget carrier Akasa opens bookings
RIYADH: India’s Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 46.3 per cent jump in its June-quarter profit as strong refining margins hit by exports of cheaper Russian crude and fuel hit its core oil-to-chemicals business.
The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate said consolidated profit rose to Rs 179.55 billion ($2.25 billion) in the three months ended June 30, from Rs 122.73 billion a year ago.
Reliance emerged as one of the major buyers of discounted Russian crude after some Western buyers abandoned it following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Private refiners also boosted fuel exports during the quarter, especially to European countries suffering shortages due to sanctions on Russia.
“Geopolitical conflict has created significant dislocation in energy markets and disrupted traditional trade flows. This, along with resurgence of demand, has led to an improvement in the fuel market and better product margins, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries.
India’s latest budget carrier Akasa opens bookings
India’s latest budget carrier Akasa Air, backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has started selling tickets for its first commercial flights from August 7, the airline said in a statement on Friday.
Akasa’s initial network will include a total of 56 weekly flights between the western cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad and the southern cities of Bengaluru and Kochi on its new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of the airline said, “Akasa Air’s network strategy is focused on establishing a strong pan-India presence and providing connectivity to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by metro across the country.”
Iyer said Akasa will expand its network in a phased manner, connecting to more cities as it adds new aircraft every month.
Domino’s may move its business away from Zomato and Swiggy
According to a letter seen by Reuters, the Domino’s Pizza India franchise will consider moving some of its business away from popular food delivery apps, Zomato and SoftBank-backed Swiggy, if their commissions rise further.
This was disclosed by Jubilant Foodworks, which runs Domino’s and Dunkin’ Donuts chains in India, in a confidential filing with the Competition Commission of India, which is probing Zomato and Swiggy’s alleged anti-competitive practices.
Jubilant is India’s largest food service company with over 1,600 branded restaurant outlets – including 1,567 Domino’s and 28 Dunkin’ outlets.
The CCI had ordered a probe into Zomato and Swiggy in April after an Indian restaurant group alleged preferential treatment, exorbitant commissions and other anti-competitive practices. Food delivery apps deny any wrongdoing.
After the CCI sought responses from the Domino’s India franchise and several other restaurants as part of its investigation, Jubilant sought more time to share data related to its online sales, but the watchdog was told the potential high cost of food-ordering platforms. Wrote expressing concern over the commission.
“In case of increase in commission rates, Jubilant will consider shifting more of its businesses from online restaurant platform to in-house ordering system,” the company said in its July 19 letter addressed to CCI.
Jubilant Foodworks declined to comment, while CCI and Swiggy did not respond.
(with input from Reuters)