Uninor loss at Rs 132 crore in Oct-Dec qtr

Mobile service provider Uninor, controlled by Norwegian firm Telenor, today reported an operating loss of Rs 132 crore in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 444 crore in the same period a year ago.

 

The figures are converted at an exchange rate of 10 into India Rupee from Norwegian Krone.

 

"In the fourth quarter, we have seen solid intake of consumers. ARPU increased for the fifth quarter in a row and reached Rs 106, up by 17% compared to same period in 2012," Telenor Group CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said while announcing result.

 

Uninor was one of the company whose licences were cancelled in 2012 by Supreme Court and the company had to buy spectrum afresh to continue operations. The company now operates in six service area- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Prdesh East and West.

 

The accumulated loss of company also narrowed to Rs 14,300 crore at the end of 2013 from about Rs 16,100 crore in 2012.

 

Uninor will deploy 5,000 mobile tower sites in the six service area to expand network coverage.

 

"We plan to redeploy 5,000 sites this year primarily for geographic expansion in our existing circles where we cover about 42% of population. With this redeployment of sites it will go above 50%," Baksaas said.

 

The company estimates investment in India during the year to be around Rs 600 crore which will comprise Rs 300 crore on capital expenditure and Rs 300 crore on operational expenditure.

 

Revenue of Uninor increased by 3.2% to Rs 836 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 810 crore its posted in same period of 2012.

 

"The competitive environment seems to be improving with signs of price increases with some natural consolidation leaving few operators in some circles," Baksaas said.

 

Telenor report said that gross margin of Uninor in six service area improved by 4 percentage points to 66% due to price increases at the end of reported quarter.

 

For year ended December 2013, operating loss of the company narrowed to Rs 576 crore from Rs 6,283 crore in 2012.

 

The annual revenues of the company in 2013 declined by 18% to about Rs 3,001 crore from Rs 3,716 crore.

 

Uninor net subscriber base during the quarter grew by 20 lakh. The company had 3.23 crore subscribers at the end of November 2013 as per latest data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.