Telenor India has posted an operating loss of NOK 132 million or Rs 105 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The operating loss has widened from NOK 90 million or Rs 71.3 crore in the same period of last year. Telenor, in a statement, said that the operating profit was negatively impacted by NOK 224 million in impairments and write-downs, but offset by lower depreciations following the impairment and write-down of assets in the first quarter.
Telenor India’s total revenue however increased by about 12.73% to NOK 1551 million, against NOK 1362 million in the same quarter last year. Its subscription and traffic revenues reached NOK 1328 million in the second quarter, up from NOK 1178 million in a year earlier period. In the local currency this revenue increased by 12%, the company said.
The company said that its India operation added 0.8 million subscriptions during the quarter, and the subscription base was 13% higher than the same quarter last year. Telenor India’s average revenue per unit (ARPU) also fell by 2% to Rs 93, the company said, adding that the decline in the ARPU was primarily driven by lower voice consumption, partly compensated by increased data usage.
The company said that the EBITDA improved significantly as result of the revenue growth and positive effects from the ongoing network modernisation programme, including one-off positive impact of NOK 32 million related to reconciliation with various vendors. The telco said that the network modernisation initiated in the third quarter last year continued in the second quarter and impacted the capital expenditure for the quarter.
Telenor currently offers 2G services in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh East and West, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The company has license in the Assam, but it hasn’t launched services commercially yet in the circle.
