Reliance Communications has posted a 3.5% sequential jump in its net profit at Rs 177 crore, against Rs 171 crore in the third quarter. The net profit however declined 22% on an yearly basis, hurt by lower revenue from voice and data services. The company has also reported 11.7% sequential surge in its fourth quarter at Rs 5,919 crore, against Rs 5,298 crore in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter EBITDA stood at Rs 1,959 crore, up 8.6% from Rs. 1,803 crore in the third quarter. RPM: RPM at 47.7 paisa, up 5.5% Q-o-Q b.
During the quarter, the total minutes of usage (MoU) went up 1.2% sequentially at 101.6 billion. The average revenue per user stood at Rs 157, up 10.6% sequentially. The total data customer base has grown 15.4% on an yearly basis to 38.9 million including 24.2 million 3G customers in the fourth quarter.
The total data traffic at 104.7 billion MB is up 20.1% on an yearly basis, due to increase in data subscribers and higher data usage per customer.
During the quarter, the company received shareholders approval at the Court Convened Meeting held on March 8, 2016 for the planned merger with Sistem Shyam Teleservices. RCom said that it is currently awaiting High Court and DoT approvals, which are expected to be received in the next few weeks, after which it will announce the complete integration of SSTL into RCom.
The telco, during the quarter, extended the exclusivity period of talks for merger between RCom and the shareholders of Aircel, Maxis Communications Berhad and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited.
“ This potential combination of the Indian wireless business of RCOM and Aircel is expected to derive substantial mutual benefits of in-country consolidation, including opex and capex synergies and revenue enhancement,” the company said.