Reliance Industries Falls Most In 2 Months After Rating Downgrade

Shares of Reliance Industries Limited slipped as much as 3.4 percent on Monday, the most since May, to Rs 1,143.55 on NSE. The slump was seen following a rating downgrade on the stock by Credit Suisse.

The brokerage and research firm downgraded the stock to "Underperform" from "Neutral" and cut its price target from Rs 1,350 to Rs 995. It advised caution on RIL's refining and petrochemical cycle due to high supply pressure.

Further, the brokerage also said that it sees a likely negative FCF (Free Cash Flow) for the company for the financial year 2020-21, higher liabilities from crude payables, JioPhone financing and East West pipelines. It also pointed at RIL's slow enterprise roll-out and a fall in Jio ARPU as reasons for the downgrade.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) is a key performance for telecom companies. In its June-ended quarterly performance results released in July, Jio reported its sixth-consecutive quarter fall in ARPU to Rs 122 from Rs 126 in March 2019.

Meanwhile, the Mukesh Amabani-led company has agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Shopsense Retail Technologies Pvt, which operates the Fynd platform, as per its statement on Friday.

RIL's investment unit will be spending as much as Rs 2.95 billion ($42 million) in cash, with an option to plow in Rs 1 billion more. When the deal completes in December 2021, its total investment would translate to an 87.6 percent stake.

RIL's new deal will help the conglomerate expand its focus on consumer business. Shopsense, which attracted investments from Google among others, helps businesses boost sales by managing inventory. This deal is expected to channelise RIL's plan to build an online retail business.