Idea Cellular dips on weak Q1 earnings

Q1 net profit fall 2% at Rs 234 crore on a quarter-on-quarter basis

Idea Cellular is trading lower by 3% at Rs 78.25 after reporting a marginal drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 234 crore for the quarter ended June 2012, on a quarter-on-quarter basis (qoq). The company had a net profit of Rs 239 crore in the previous quarter.

“This muted performance was due to the introduction of the ‘Telecom Consumer Protection Regulation’ by TRAI (March 2012), additional depreciation during the quarter, tariff wars and forex losses,” Aditya Birla Group company said in a filing.

Total revenues grew 2.5% at Rs 5,504 crore on sequential basis, because of the drop in the average realisation per minute (ARPM) by 2.3% to 41.2 paise from 42.2 paise (qoq).

 

The stock opened at Rs 80.20 and hit a low of Rs 77.75 on the National Stock Exchange. A combined 1.2 million shares have changed hands on the counter so far.