Telecom service provider Idea Cellular’s net profit declined by 39 per cent to Rs575.6 crore in the last quarter of 2015-16 due to a spike in finance costs.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs941.77 crore in the January-March quarter of 2014-15 financial year.
Revenue of the company, however, increased by 12.6 per cent to Rs9,483.85 crore during the reported quarter, compared to Rs8,422.51 crore in the same period of 2014-15.
Net debt of the company as on March 31, 2016, stood at Rs38,750 crore, including all deferred payment liability to be paid to Government for spectrum purchased in auctions.
Idea Cellular reported over two-fold jump in finance charges at Rs808.05 crore in January-March 2015-16, from Rs291.65 crore in the year-ago period.
For year ended March 31, 2016, the company’s consolidated net profit declined by 3.5 per cent Rs3,079.93 crore from Rs3,192.91 crore a year ago.
The consolidated annual revenue of Idea for financial year 2015-16 increased by 13.9 per cent to Rs35,980.95 crore from Rs31,570.89 crore in previous fiscal.
The company realisation of revenue from voice calls and data per minute also declined sharply.
Idea reported voice realised rate of 33.3 paise per minute compared to 33.9 paise a minute it registered in same quarter a year ago. The realisation of revenue from data service declined to 22.9 paise per megabyte from 44.8 paise per MB during quarter under review.