Idea Cellular net down 7 per cent to Rs 219.45 crore

Aditya Birla Group company Idea Cellular has posted a net profit of Rs 219.45 crore on a consolidated basis in the third quarter ended December 2008, a 7.32 per cent fall from Rs 236.77 crore recorded during the comparable period a year ago.

The GSM service provider’s total income for the reporting quarter rose to Rs 2,731.05 crore, compared with Rs 1,710.31 crore recorded during the same period of previous financial year, Idea Cellular said in a release.

On a standalone basis, the company reported a 19.74 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 284.01 crore for the reporting quarter, as against Rs 237.19 crore during the same period of last year. The company’s total income rose to Rs 2,606.45 crore, as against Rs 1,710.31 crore registered in the third quarter of the previous financial year.

The company also mentioned that its stake in Spice Communications stood at 41.09 per cent, following purchase of shares held by MCorp Global Communications and completion of open offer to up to 20 per cent equity stake in the company. Idea had announced the acquisition of Spice Communications in June 2008.

Idea Cellular’s shares traded nearly flat on the Bombay Stock Exchange and closed at Rs 42.05 on Thursday.

Mobile operators in the world's fastest-growing wireless market have been adding more than 10 million new users a month, even as a slowdown hits much of Asia's third-largest economy. Analysts expect that growth to last, as less than a third of India's 1.1 billion population have mobile phones.