Idea Cellular Q1 net profit up by 57% at Rs 728.2 crore

Telecom operator Idea Cellular today posted 57 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 728.2 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014, on increased demand in mobility business mainly mobile internet services.
The company had posted a profit after tax of Rs 462.71 crore in the same period a year ago.
"The strong consumer demand and brand affinity, expanding network footprint and spectrum portfolio and steady cash flows from operations reaffirm Idea's ability to deliver consistent, competitive, responsible and profitable growth," Idea Cellular said in a statement.
During the quarter, Idea said, the company saw 136 per cent year-on-year growth in mobile internet business. The company sold 32.5 billion megabytes of mobile data on its 2G and 3G platform.

The network usage of the company grew by 12.2 per cent on yearly basis.
"The higher voice rate realization and jump in data contribution to 11.5 per cent of service revenue helped improve Average Realisation per Minute (ARPM) by 1.5 paise from 43.6 paise in Q4, FY'14 to 45.1 paise in Q1 FY'15. The value added services contribution has improved sharply to 17.8 per cent of overall service revenue," the statement said.

Idea Cellular posted about 16 per cent jump in its consolidated revenue at Rs 7,484.8 crore during the reported quarter compared to Rs 6,470.93 crore in the same period a year ago.

Idea said its net mobile data consumer increased by 2.6 million to 27.9 million on quarterly basis.
"The blended Data ARPU (2G+3G) also improved to Rs 108 and Usage per Data subscriber is at 409 MB," the statement said.
Shares of Idea closed at Rs 139.75 apiece, down by 1.01 per cent over previous close at BSE.