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Reliance Communications (RCom) on Friday said its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March fell 8.7 per cent to Rs 303 crore from Rs 332 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. However, compared to the previous quarter, the net profit rose 1.8 times. This prompted the company's board to announce a dividend payout of five per cent.
Total income rose 2.3 per cent to Rs 5,130 crore, against Rs 5,010 crore in year-ago period. Sequentially, revenues rose 12.3 per cent.
During the quarter, revenue per minute (RPM) stood at 44 paise. “We have successfully achieved RPM stability for 12 consecutive quarters, amid intense competition and oversupply of minutes in the market,” the company said in a press release.
On Friday, the company repaid the entire syndicated external commercial borrowing of $500 million (about Rs 2,700 crore). In 2007, RCom had availed of the loan from a group of international banks. As on March 31, its net debt stood at Rs 38,864 crore.
RCom’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at Rs 2,218 crore. “This is the second full year of positive free cash flow for the company and this trend shall continue in succeeding years,” the company said. Ebitda margin for the quarter ended March was 37.2 per cent; the company said this was among the highest in the industry. Both the wireless and the global enterprise businesses contributed significantly to the margins.
Recently, RCom had raised its voice rates 20-30 per cent by cutting discounts.
On Friday, the RCom stock closed at Rs 110.3 on the BSE, a rise of 0.55 per cent.
The company has forged a joint venture with Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio to let the latter use its inter-city fibre optic network. For this, Reliance Industries would pay RCom Rs 1,200 crore.
