RCom posts loss of Rs 341 crore in Dec 2018 quarter

Debt-ridden telecom firm Reliance Communications Wednesday posted a consolidated loss of Rs 341 crore for the third quarter ended December 2018, according to an exchange filing.

The company had registered a loss of Rs 206 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The loss figure excludes interest and foreign exchange impact.

The Anil Ambani-led firm, which is going through debt resolution process under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, did not provide for interest of Rs 1,091 crore and foreign exchange variation and other related item amounting to Rs 474 crore for the quarter.

"Had the company provided interest and foreign exchange variance, the loss would have been higher by Rs 617 crore ...for the quarter," the company filing said.

Further, the auditors have drawn qualification for non provision of interest and foreign exchange variations in their Limited Review Report for the quarter and nine months period ended December 31, 2018, it added.

RCom also derecognised assets and liabilities pertaining to Reliance Realty Limited (RRL) and investment by the company in RRL, therefore its financial performance during the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2018, could not be compared with that of the previous period.

Trouble is also brewing for RCom's overseas subsidiary GCX as its current liability exceeds assets by USD 324 million.

GCX has to repay a bond amounting to USD 350 million in the month of August 2019.

RCom's revenue for its continuing business for the reported quarter was down at Rs 1,083 crore from Rs 1,176 crore in the same period a year ago. However, the performance improved from revenue of Rs 1,014 crore it registered in July-September 2018 quarter.

Shares of RCom closed at Rs 12.94 a unit, down by 3 per cent compared to their previous close, on the BSE Wednesday.