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Reliance Industries, one of India's biggest companies, on Friday reported weaker quarterly profits than expected, as a muted performance in its retail business overshadowed strong growth in its telecoms division.The oil-to-telecoms giant, led by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, is India's most valuable company by market capitalisation.The conglomerate said net profit came in at 186.45bn rupees ($2.05bn) for the October-December quarter, up just 0.57% from the same period last year.Analysts had on average expected a bottom line of 198.96bn rupees, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.Revenue from operations for Reliance meanwhile rose 10.5% year-on-year to 2.69tn rupees.But this was accompanied by a 11.5% jump in expenses that it said included the cost of complying with India's new labour laws.Despite its aggressive push into retail, telecoms and green energy, Reliance continues to rely on its traditional oil business for profits.While its core oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division struggled for parts of 2024 and 2025 — as global uncertainty roiled the industry — it has started to bounce back.In a statement, Ambani noted that the "robust growth" in the O2C business was led by "significantly higher fuel margins" and "operational flexibility".Reliance's consumer-facing businesses have long been fast-growing bright spots.But for the December quarter, the conglomerate's retail unit was hurt by weaker margins.The telecoms unit, which is gearing up for a public listing later this year, saw its average revenue per user grow 5.1% year-on-year.The company attributed the bump to higher demand for 5G services.Reliance Industries shares have slipped over 7% so far this year. 

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd is seeking to sell cargoes of Middle Eastern oil, an unusual move for a refiner that’s normally a major buyer.There’s heightened focus on the actions of the nation’s oil processors since the US slapped sanctions on key supplier Russia. Reliance has been trying to sell grades including Murban and Upper Zakum on the spot market to domestic and international refiners, according to people at the companies receiving those offers. They asked not to be named as they aren’t authorised to speak publicly.India’s largest privately owned refiner, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is typically a major importer of oil from the Middle East and Russia. The recent sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies have spurred expectations that Indian processors will have to buy more barrels from countries such as Saudi Arabia.Yet the offers suggest Reliance has ample supply for now, though the reasons why are unclear. Traders are watching Indian buying patterns closely to see whether refiners will hoover up grades tied to benchmark crude prices — potentially supporting oil futures — or find ways to sustain imports from Russia.The Mumbai-based company has already sold a cargo of Iraqi Basrah Medium crude to a Greek buyer. It’s unclear how much crude Reliance is looking to offload in total; and it could choose to sell some but not all of the cargoes.A Reliance Industries spokesperson didn’t reply to an email seeking comment.Refiners in India, the world’s third-largest importer of crude, are busy trying to diversify their supply sources after Western sanctions made buying discounted Russian oil more difficult and risky.Reliance had been Indian’s top importer of Russian crude this year, but snapped up millions of barrels from the Middle East last month following the White House penalties against Russia, which were aimed at depriving the Kremlin of funds for its war in Ukraine.Reliance said last month that it would abide by the US sanctions, and would be adapting its operations to meet the compliance requirements. The refiner previously had a term supply deal for around 500,000 barrels a day from Russian producer Rosneft PJSC.