That surprised analysts who expected RCom to report a significantly higher Q1 profit.
Such expectations arose as the company’s stock recovered sharply in the last couple of months on the back of two mega deals with Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) worth Rs 13,200 crore in all (which, some sources said, would be completed by this fiscal-end).
Some RCom sources attributed the fall in Q1 net profit to rupee depreciation and external market conditions.
RCom’s total income rose marginally to Rs 5,315 crore from Rs 5,264 crore in Q1 of last fiscal on the back of a pick-up in GSM and data revenues, the company’s focus areas.
RCom’s Q1 operational cash flow touched Rs 1,701 crore, ensuring the firm remained cash flow-positive.
At Rs 4,816 crore, non-voice revenues were up 4.1% on-quarter, the highest in the industry; and their share of total revenues was also up at 21.3% from 21% in Q1 of last fiscal, thanks to industry-leading growth in data customers who numbered 3.11 crore (including 77 lakh 3G customers, up from 72 lakh in the previous quarter).
Gurdeep Singh, CEO and president of RCom’s wireless business, said the share of GSM data revenues was also up at 67% from 64% in the previous quarter. However, GSM and CDMA voice revenues declined to 78.7% from 81%. “We expect GSM + non-voice revenues to grow by 80% in the next 3-4 quarters,” Singh said.
RCom reported 45.7 paise in revenue per minute or RPM, up 4% from 44 paise, the highest in the industry, thanks to pricing rationalisation in terms of headline tariff increase and cutback in promotional offers. Wireless Ebitda or operating profit grew 6.6% on-quarter to Rs 1,314 crore, the third highest quarterly growth in wireless business for RCom after 13 straight quarters of decline. RCom’s net debt at last fiscal-end stood at $7 billion. According to some sources, RCom’s third deal with Jio for an intra-city fibre network is expected to be closed within the current quarter or latest in the next.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/ntasuks
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