Idea Cellular posted a 13.72 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 228.57 crore on a consolidated basis, despite tough economic and business environment. The GSM operator had recorded a net profit of Rs 200.98 crore during the comparable quarter a year ago.
The Aditya Birla Group company’s total income rose 10.88 per cent to Rs 5,578.58 crore during the quarter under review, compared with Rs 5,030.82 crore posted during the same period the previous financial year.
“The growth in revenues is primarily on account of growth in voice minutes, and this is in spite of regulatory interventions that impacted subscriber additions and value-added services business model uncertainties in the sector,” Idea Cellular Managing Director Managing Director, Himanshu Kapania, said.
During the quarter, the company’s voice minutes grew at 5.2 per cent to 132.2 billion minutes, compared with 125.6 billion minutes in the second quarter this year. “This is an indication that the consumer demand for voice remains robust,” Kapania added.
On a standalone basis, the company posted a net profit of Rs 191 crore on a cash profit of Rs 1,108.5 crore. The company also revised the capex to Rs 3,000 crore for the fiscal from the Rs 3,500 crore earlier, as the delay in auction resulted in pushing the capex by another quarter.
Shares in Idea Cellular closed up 0.62 per cent at Rs 113.50 on the BSE on Tuesday.
rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in