Idea Cellular slumps as net loss widens in Q3

Idea Cellular slumped 5.78% to Rs 93.65 at 14:23 IST on BSE after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 1284.50 crore in Q3 December 2017 higher than net loss of Rs 383.90 crore in Q3 December 2016.

Total income fell 24.75% to Rs 6551.60 crore in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016.

The result was announced during trading hours today, 24 January 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P Sensex was up 15.84 points or 0.04% at 36,167.67.

On the BSE, 23.52 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 16.44 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 99 and a low of Rs 92.95 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 123.75 on 20 March 2017 and a 52-week low of Rs 70.40 on 23 January 2017.

Effective 1 October 2017, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) amended the domestic interconnection usage charge (IUC) settlement regulation reducing the mobile termination charge (MTC) from 14 paisa to 6 paisa per minute aggravating the financial stress of the industry. Therefore, this quarter results are not comparable to the earlier periods. The regulation imposed 57% sharp decline in IUC settlement rates negatively impacting Idea's revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for this quarter.

In its merger update, company said that on 20 March 2017 Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular announced an agreement to combine their operations in India (excluding Vodafone's 42% stake in Indus Towers) to create India's largest telecom operator. The parties have a complementary footprint and the merged entity would have one of the highest overall spectrum holding of 1,850 MHz across multiple spectrum bands.

The merger transaction is subject to approval from the relevant regulatory authorities. The companies have already received approval for the proposed combination from Competition Commission of India (CCI), SEBI & stock exchanges and (recently from National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Bench of Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The merger of Idea and Vodafone India is in the final leg of regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in first half of calendar year 2018.

Idea Cellular is one of the leading telecom operators in India.

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