Idea Cellular has posted a 44% increase in topline to Rs 2936.49 crore for the quarter ended March-09 whereas bottomline took a marginal hit and stands at Rs 274.3 crores (YoY) on a consolidated basis compared to last fiscal. The company FY2008-09 has posted revenues of Rs 10,148.41 crore whereas the PAT stands at Rs 900.87 crores. The primary reason for sluggish bottomline growth is the expenses incurred on new circles and losses being written-off through their newly acquired Spice Communication.
The company’s average minutes usage stands at 402 minutes from 416 minutes a year ago period.The ARPU is also on steady decline dipping to Rs 256 from Rs 266 YoY.
The company has also devised an increase in its capex spending for FY’10 to Rs 6,000 crore, an increase of Rs.500 crore from FY’09 capex. The company would soon be spreading their wings across India and would be the sixth pan-India operator.They already have operations in 16 circles and would soon be launching their services in the remaining six telecom service areas by the end of this year.
Idea is currently the fourth largest GSM telecom operator in india with a subscriber base of almost 43 million users and its market share stands at 14.5% at the end of March-09. Telcos would need to ramp up cost cutting measure and steps like tower sharing are steps in right direction.Although the decline in ARPU’s is a worrying factor but the subscriber growth could just offset the impact.
