Jio Platforms booked profit gains in fiscal Q3 2022 (ending 31 December 2021), driven by steady revenue growth and improved ARPU, which it forecast to continue climbing over the next few quarters.

Net profit rose 8.9 per cent year-on-year to INR37.95 billion ($510.1 million), on revenue of INR241.8 billion, up 5.8 per cent.

In an earnings release, chairman and MD of parent Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani noted the digital unit recorded the highest ever revenue and EBITDA during the quarter.

Subscriber growth slowed in the 12 months to end-December, with Reliance Jio adding 10.2 million users for a total of 421 million compared with the 40.8 million added in calendar year 2020.

Fiscal Q3 ARPU increased marginally to INR151.60, aided by price hikes, but the company expects the full impact of tariff increases to be reflected in future results.

Average data consumption per user increased from 12.9GB a month in fiscal Q3 2020 to 18.4GB.

Jio noted it completed 5G network planning in about 1,000 cities across India, targeting high-consumption locations.