RelCom Q1 net surges 138 p.c.

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications today posted a 138 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 1220.84 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 from Rs 512.82 crore for the corresponding quarter the previous year.

The total income of the company has increased to Rs 4303.70 crore from Rs 3250.12 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006.

On a stand-alone basis, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 837.30 crore for Q1FY08 when compared with Rs 474.17 crore for Q1FY07. Total income has increased to Rs 3229.69 crore from Rs 2732.16 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006.

The EBITDA showed a growth of 52 per cent at Rs. 1,814 crore. The EBITDA margin expanded to 42 per cent from 37 per cent, with continued expansion in profitability across all businesses – Personal, Global and Broadband.

On the results, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, chairman, Reliance Communications, said, “In the quarter under review, we have lined up many significant financial achievements. Our operating margin of 42% is now the highest of any telecom company in India. We have delivered the strongest profit growth of any telecom company in the country. Our EBITDA margin on a net revenue basis is 54%, which places us in the group of top 10 telecom companies globally. The return on the net worth has expanded to 36% this quarter with the increased utilization of resource base.”

RelCom was accelerating its wireless subscriber additions. “The last month saw us adding 1.45 million subscribers, our highest ever net addition in any month. During the quarter, we added 3.87 million subscribers representing a market share of net additions of almost 20%. In the licensed areas where we operate both CDMA and GSM services, our market share of net additions was 32%,” Ambani said.

He added that the company made substantial operational progress. “We have embarked upon the world’s largest telecom network roll out this year. Its completion by the end of the fiscal year will see the coverage of our wireless network expand to 23,000 towns and 600,000 villages with almost complete coverage of the country’s rail and road networks. We have already committed 95% of this year’s capex guidance of Rs. 10,000 crore (US$ 2.5 billion) to accelerate this roll out.”

Going forward, the company was expecting its extensive national coverage and unmatched bundled offerings to drive market share expansion.