Uninor cuts Q3 operating loss by half to Rs 512 cr

Telecom operator Uninor narrowed its operating loss by half to around Rs 512 crore (Norwegian Krone 536 million) for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

The company, in which Norwegian telecom firm Telenor holds majority stake, had posted operating loss of around Rs 1,037 crore (NOK 1084 million), calculated at exchange rate of 9.57 INR for a NOK, during the same period a year ago.

The accumulated losses of Uninor stood at around Rs 13,300 crore as of Q3 2012, Telenor said in a presentation.

The revenues of the company improved marginally by 3% during the reported period at Rs 825 crore (NOK 863 million) compared to Rs 801 crore (NOK 837 million) it posted for the corresponding period in 2011.

Uninor's is one of the companies whose all telecom licences were cancelled by Supreme Court in February and are valid till January 18, 2013. Post this date, assets and business of the company will be transferred to new entity Telewings Communications in which Telenor has around 74% stake.

 Telenor participated in recent spectrum auction through Telewings and has won spectrum for six circles -- UP East, UP West, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra --for around Rs 4,018 crore.

After January 18, the company will operate only in these six circles as against nine circles at present.

Telenor Group president and CEO Jon-Fredrik Baksaas on last Thursday said that Uninor's business in UP East has become profitable and expects to break-even in rest of its telecom service areas by the end of 2013.

Telenor said that Uninor financial performance impacted financial performance of the group.

"Operating profit decreased by NOK 2.1 billion (Rs 2000 crore) compared to last year primarily due to impairment of assets in Uninor of NOK 3.9 billion(Rs 2,966 crore) in the first quarter of 2012," Telenor said in financial report for third quarter of 2012.

The consolidated operating profit of Telenor increased by 13% during the quarter to Rs 4,774 crore (NOK 5,095 million) from Rs 4,313 crore(NOK 4,507 million) for the same period a year ago.

The consolidated operating profit, however, for nine month period declined by 17% to Rs 8,996.75 crore (NOK 9.4 billion)from Rs 10,971 crore (NOK 11.46 billion).

The consolidated revenue of Telenor increased marginally by 2.5% at Rs 24,167 crore (NOK 25,253 million) during the quarter from Rs 23,571.8 crore (NOK 24,631 million) it posted for the same period a year ago.