Indus Towers' net profit declines 23% to Rs 1,399 cr in March quarter

Telecom infrastructure company Indus Towers on Wednesday reported a 23 per cent drop in consolidated net profit of Rs 1,399 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023.

The net profit was Rs 1,829 crore in the year-ago period.

Seen on a full-year basis, the net profit tanked 68 per cent for FY23, with the company stating that the "financial performance reflects collection challenges from a major customer".

Meanwhile, Indus Towers' revenue for the March quarter (Q4FY23) stood at Rs 6,753 crore, a decline of five per cent over Q4 FY22.

Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation or EBITDA was pegged at Rs 3,447 crore, down 15 per cent year-on-year and representing an operating margin of 51 per cent.

"The financials of Q4 2021-22 included a one-time positive impact of Rs 547 crore on account of deferred recognition of revenue from past settlements. In 2022-23, the company adhered to prudent accounting practices and reflected the stress on its receivables due to collection challenges faced from one of the major customers," it said but did not name the telco.

For the full FY2023, the consolidated net profit declined 68 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,040 crore.

The company's consolidated revenues rose 2 per cent year-on-year Rs 28,382 crore for FY23.

Indus Towers' Managing Director and CEO Prachur Sah said the company ended the year on a positive note with a robust operational performance and improvement in collections during the last quarter.

"The renewal of co-locations with our major customers during the year has secured our business over the long run. Furthermore, the rapid pace of 5G rollouts and new tower rollouts supported by our major customer's focus on expansion is expected to act as strong levers of growth for the foreseeable future," Sah said.

Sah exuded confidence that being the largest passive infrastructure player in the country, the company is "well placed to tread this growth path in a sustainable way".