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Reliance Industries Ltd., led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, posted a quarterly profit that beat analyst estimates, as gains from its telecom and retail units offset the volatility in its petrochemical business. Shares rose.

Net income at India’s largest company by market value rose 7.4% to 185.4 billion rupees ($2.14 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, according to a filing late Thursday, beating the average analysts estimate of 183.26 billion rupees compiled by Bloomberg.

Shares advanced as much as 4.7% — most in more than seven months — on Friday when India markets reopened.

The refining-to-retail conglomerate reported a 6.6% increase in revenue to 2.43 trillion rupees, while total costs climbed 6.3% to 2.19 trillion rupees. Other income rose 8.8% to 42.1 billion rupees.

The oil to chemicals business “showcased its innate resilience” despite a prolonged period of global volatility, Chairman Ambani said in a statement. The retail unit also delivered a “strong” performance as it “ably capitalized on the pick-up in consumption amid festive demand during the quarter.”

Key Insights

• The robust earnings — the first time Reliance has beaten profit expectations in seven quarters — will add firepower to Ambani’s efforts to pivot his fossil fuel-fed empire toward green energy. In the past decade, his push into consumer facing businesses has already paid off with telecom and retail units increasingly contributing to profits

• Besides global overcapacity, tighter US sanctions against Russia could impact Reliance’s refinery margins in the coming months. The company management did not comment on this Thursday.

  • The refiner had only recently signed a 10-year supply deal with Moscow for sourcing 500,000 barrels a day, or 35% of its oil demand, Reuters reported.

    • That deal, according to a Jan. 7 note from Jefferies, would have allowed Reliance to blend cheap Russian and Venezuela crude and achieve a $2 per barrel boost to refining margins — something that looks difficult now

  • India is set to reject oil tankers sanctioned by the US for their role in moving cargoes for Russia, Bloomberg reported citing a senior government official. The full impact of the sanctions will be felt when a wind-down period expires in two months, this person said

• Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. raised tariffs in July to boost revenue, a move widely viewed as a precursor to the listing of the telecom unit. Jefferies sees the probability for Jio to list this year at a valuation in excess of $100 billion

• Reliance, which operates the world’s largest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, saw petrochemical margins increase 2.4% while the refining margins recovered sequentially

  • “Near term headwinds facing oil to chemicals business will dissipate,” Reliance said in the post-earnings analyst presentation

• Reliance Retail, which has been reeling under a broader India consumption slowdown in recent quarters, got a boost in the latest quarter from India’s festival season, especially Diwali, that spurred household spending