Grim battle slows Idea’s revenue growth to 2.5%

Idea Cellular has reported total revenues of INR55.04 billion (USD985.82 million) for the three months ended 30 June 2012, up from INR45.21 billion a year earlier. Earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period were INR14.36 billion whilst the EBITDA margin was 26.1%. The company said that revenue growth has slowed over the last two quarters to 2.5% quarter-on-quarter after strong growth in the company’s fiscal 2012 (ended 31 March 2012) due to a ‘grim market battle for supremacy’. Net profits for the period under review were INR2.34 billion, down from INR2.39 billion the previous quarter but representing an increase of 32.0% year-on-year. OPEX, meanwhile continued to climb reaching INR40.68 billion for the quarter, compared to INR33.17 billion twelve months earlier. At the end of June 2012 the company had 83,860 2G sites and 13,363 3G sites, with a subscriber base totalling 117.2 million.