The Hindu Business Line : Idea Q2 net doubles on expanded subscriber base

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Idea Q2 net doubles on expanded subscriber base

Awaits spectrum to roll out services in Mumbai and Bihar

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Oct. 25 On the back of an expanded subscriber base, the country’s sixth largest telecom operator, Idea Cellular reported a 100 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended September 30.

The company’s net profit rose to Rs 220.33 crore from Rs 110.15 crore for the quarter ended September 30 last year. Total revenue increased by 54.4 per cent to Rs 1,564.35 crore from Rs 1,012.83 crore recorded in the quarter ended September 30.

Subscriber base

Idea Cellular added 2.55 million subscribers during the quarter, taking its subscriber base to 18.67 million, Mr Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, Idea Cellular, told reporters here on Thursday. In its current 11 service areas, Idea Cellular increased its subscriber market share to 15.6 per cent by the end of September from 15.4 per cent at the end of June this year, said a communiqué from the company.

However, on a sequential basis, the company’s EBITDA was almost unchanged, even as consolidated revenues grew by six per cent. This is mainly on account of declining average revenue per user (ARPU) that impacted the company’s bottom-line, added Mr Aga.

“In the previous quarter we had a forex gain of Rs 37 crore which had a positive impact on our bottom-line. However, in this quarter, we had a provision for taxation which depleted Rs 26 crore from our bottom line,” said Mr Aga. Moreover, ARPU levels have been steadily declining for all mobile operators in the country. For Idea, the ARPU had come down from Rs 320 in the June quarter to Rs 288 in the September quarter, said Mr Aga.

Additional spectrum

Mr Aga said that the company is awaiting additional spectrum so that it can roll out its services in Mumbai and Bihar.

“We got licences for these circles from the DoT in December last year, following which we should have already been able to launch the service in these circles. Within four months of receiving spectrum, our services will be launched in these circles,” said Mr Aga.

The Idea scrip was up by 3.65 per cent to close at Rs 152 on the BSE on Thursday.