RCom Posts Loss Of Rs 966 Crore In Q4, Hit By Price War

Mumbai: Mobile phone network operator Reliance Communications Ltd posted its second straight quarterly loss on Saturday, hit by the price war which has broken out in the world's second-biggest mobile market by number of users. The launch last year of rival Reliance Industries' new Jio 4G broadband service with free voice and data services has forced other networks to come up with cheaper plans of their own, squeezing margins and in some cases dragging down sales, with bigger rivals Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India also suffering from the cut-price competition.

Reliance Communications, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, said on Saturday it made a consolidated net loss of Rs 966 crore ($149.8 million) for its fiscal fourth quarter to March 31, compared with a Rs 90 crore net profit in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Four analysts had, on average, expected Reliance Communications to report a loss of Rs 748 crore, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue from operations fell about 24 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 4,312 crore.

Its heavy debt load - Rs 42,800 crore of net debt as on December 31 - has also weighed on the performance of Reliance Communications, which is the most leveraged among listed Indian telecommunication carriers.

The latest debt figure as of end-March was not immediately available. But finance costs rose 24.3 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 983 crore, the company said.

Worries over its debt-servicing ability hit its shares and bonds this week.

To strengthen the business Reliance Communications is merging its wireless business with rival Aircel, and is also selling a 51 per cent stake in its radio masts business to Canada's Brookfield Infrastructure Group for Rs 10,000 crore ($1.54 billion).

The company expects its debt to fall by about Rs 25,000 crore this financial year after the completion of the deals, it said in Saturday's statement.

($1 = Rs 64.5050)