RCom's Sep-quarter loss at Rs 30,142 crore on provisioning for liabilities

Debt-ridden Reliance Communications on Friday posted a consolidated loss of Rs 30,142 crore for July September 2019 due to provisioning for liabilities after the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues.

The company, which is going through insolvency process, had made a profit of Rs 1,141 crore in the corresponding three months a year ago.

During July-September 2019, the company set aside Rs 28,314 crore on account of provisioning following the Supreme Court order on calculation of annual adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of telecom companies.

The apex court last month upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual AGR, a share of which has to be paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

Total liability on telecom operators after the SC ruling is estimated to be around Rs 1.6 lakh crore, of which Rs 1.33 lakh crore due has to be paid by the companies that are operational.

RCom's total liability includes Rs 23,327 crore licence fee and Rs 4.987 crore spectrum usage charges.

RCom and its subsidiaries did not provide interest of Rs 1,210 crore and foreign exchange variation of Rs 458 crore.

"Had the company provided interest and foreign exchange variation, the loss would have been higher by Rs 1,668 crore...for the quarter," RCom said.

Revenue from operations of RCom dipped to Rs 302 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 977 crore it recorded in the corresponding period of 2018-19.

RCom shares closed at Rs 0.59 apiece, down by 3.28 per cent compared to previous close, at BSE.