BNP Paribas Sees More Upside In RIL, Raises Price Target By 43%

On Friday, brokerage BNP Paribas maintains its 'buy' rating on Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and raises price target by nearly 43 percent to Rs 2,317, implying a further upside of 8 percent, after accounting for an increase in valuation for Jio and the retail business in the light of potential growth outlook.

Shares of the conglomerate closed 4.4 percent higher at Rs 2,148.40 on NSE on Friday.

India's most valued company crossed Rs 14 lakh crore mark in market cap amid reports that Amazon was eyeing a stake in the conglomerate's retail arm.

"RIL has now become a mothership surrounded by businesses which both feed of themselves while being attached to the parent," BNP Paribas' analysts said in a note.

The brokerage believes the consumer retail business and Jio will have multiple opportunities to cross-sell in the future, giving the conglomerate power to be best placed to understand changing consumer trends and hence position their businesses.

As for RIL pending deal with Saudi Aramco, the brokerage said that even if the company is able to sell a 20 percent stake to Aramco even at a lower valuation, it would be viewed as a positive, as it would increase the focus on future growth businesses and reduce its dependence on cyclical businesses.

The company's partly paid-up shares listed separately have a market capitalisation of Rs 53,821 crore. The combined market capitalisation of Reliance Industries now stands at Rs 14,07,854.41 crore.

ReliancePP-the partly paid-up shares issued in the recently concluded rights issue- had listed on the stock exchanges on 15 June 2020.