Sistema Shyam Teleservices, which operates under the MTS brand, has reported a net loss of Rs 437.9 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 760.1.9 crore a year ago. The company is doing its business in nine circles.
The company's net loss however expanded from Rs 402.5 crore in the previous quarter, mainly due to higher forex losses, the Indian unit of Russia's Sistema JSFC said.
"During the quarter, our non-voice revenues grew by 14% thereby contributing 43% of the total revenues. The results have once again demonstrated the market acceptance of our world class 3G plus network,” said Dmitry Shukov, Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Shyam Teleservices.
Dmitry further added “To further strengthen, the data story in India, it is imperative that the government comes out with a clear roadmap on spectrum sharing and trading. We are hopeful that as this happens, it would give a boost to broadband penetration in the country.”
However, MTS revenue increased 20% year-on-year to Rs 342.7 crore, which was also 2% higher than the second quarter ended June 30, helped by increased use of its data services by customers.
“Operating loss before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) narrowed to Rs 103.7 crore from Rs 219.7 crore a year earlier,” it said.
"Non-voice revenue growth along with cost control has helped OIBDA margins to improve further during the quarter," said Sergey Savchenko, Chief Financial Officer of Sistema Shyam.
In the mean time, average revenue per user increased 2% to Rs 117, but minutes of usage fell by 3.7% sequentially to 401 during the quarter "due to seasonality", the company said. The company's debt for MTS at the end of September stood at Rs 3,671 crore. In addition, the Company’s data card subscriber base for the quarter increased by 6.3% to 1.5 million subscribers.
