Telenor India operating loss narrows to Rs 36 cr

Telecom operator Telenor India today reported narrowing of its operating loss at Rs 36 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2016.
The company had reported operating loss of about Rs 323 crore in the same period a year ago.
For the year ended December 31, 2016, operating loss of Telenor India significantly widened to Rs 5,856 crore from Rs 871.2 crore a year due to impairment loss and write downs of about Rs 5,920 crore during the year.
"In India business is not sustainable. We are looking for an alternative which we are yet to find out," Telenor Group President and CEO Sigve Brekke said during an investor meet.

He said that the group is no more making any capital expenditure in India.
The revenue of Telenor India declined to around Rs 1,134 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 1,264 crore a year ago due to increased competitive intensity following the entrance of a new operator (Reliance Jio) into the market and demonetisation in the country.

For the year ended December 31, 2016, Telenor India revenue in local currency terms declined by about 2 per cent to around Rs 4,826 crore from Rs 4,921 mainly due to fluctuation in forex rate.
In terms of Norwegian Krone, the revenue of Telenor India increased by about 3 per cent on account of interconnection charges.

The subscriber base of the company at the end of 2016 stood at 4.4 crore compared to 4.2 crore a year ago.