Amid price war, Idea posts third straight quarterly loss of Rs 815 cr in Q1

The telecom firm income fell by about 14% to Rs 81.82 billion

Idea Cellular Ltd, India's number 3 telecoms firm, reported a third straight quarterly loss on Thursday, reeling in the wake of a price war wrought by upstart entrant Reliance Jio.

The company reported a net loss of Rs 8.15 billion ($127.13 million) for the three months ended June 30 after posting a profit of Rs 2.20 billion a year earlier.

Analysts on average estimated a loss of Rs 6.71 billion, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data showed.

Idea's capital expenditure guidance for the full year 2018 is Rs 60 billion, it said.

Reliance Industries, led by India's wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani, entered India's telecoms industry last year, spending more than $30 billion on Jio and upending the sector with its low-cost data plans.

The ensuing price war has triggered consolidation in the world's second biggest mobile phone market by users.

Idea and Vodafone Group Plc's have agreed to merge their Indian operations in a $23 billion deal that is expected to close in 2018. Bharti Airtel is taking over operations of Norway's Telenor in six Indian states.

This week, bigger rival Bharti Airtel reported its smallest profit in 18 quarters.