Moneycontrol Bureau
Telecom operator Reliance Communications' second quarter consolidated net profit jumped over six-fold quarter-on-quarter to Rs 675 crore, driven by provision write back.
The company, during the quarter, reassessed the requirement of maintaining balance of Rs 441 crore of provision of business restructuring created pursuant to the schemes of amalgamation approved by High Court in financial year 2006-07. The board determined that it is no longer required to maintain provision, hence that amount credited to other income.
Consolidated revenues, which were announced after market hours on Tuesday, declined nearly a percent on sequential basis to Rs 5,361 crore in the quarter gone by. Voice revenue stood at Rs 3,384 crore and non-voice revenue at Rs 1,018 crore during the quarter.
The company beat on bottomline as well as on operational front, but topline was a miss. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts had estimated net profit at Rs 108 crore on revenues of Rs 5,475 crore for the quarter.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 9 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 1,854 crore and operating profit margin expanded 320 basis points Q-o-Q to 34.6 percent during second quarter as against analysts' expectations of Rs 1,765 crore and 32.23 percent, respectively.
Key point indicators - disappointed
Average revenue per user (ARPU) fell 7 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 120 as against analysts' expectations of Rs 125 while revenue per minute dropped 5 percent Q-o-Q to 43.4 paise in the quarter gone by.
Total minutes of usage declined 3.8 percent on sequential basis to 101.5 billion minutes due to seasonality factors, which was higher compared to competitor Bharti Airtel (down 3 percent) and lower compared to Idea Cellular (down 5.8 percent).
Shares of Reliance Communications fell 5.18 percent to close at Rs 129.15 apiece on the BSE.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
