Idea Cellular posts muted results in Q2FY16

Idea Cellular declared its September 2015 quarter results. The company's consolidated revenue decreased by 1.24 per cent to Rs 8689 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis due to reduction in Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) settlement rate from 20 paise to 14 paise/minute from March 1, 2015. Its total expenditure increased by 1.11 per cent to Rs 5632 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis.

Idea's EBITDA decreased by 5.31 per cent to Rs 3057 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis. The company's EBITDA margin contracted by 151 basis points to 35.18 per cent in Q2FY16 as compared to previous quarter. Its EBIT also declined by 11.3 per cent to Rs 1519 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis as depreciation expenses increased by 1.46 per cent to Rs 1538 crore during the quarter. Idea's interest expense declined by 23.74 per cent to Rs 306 crore and other income decreased by 72.51 per cent to Rs 34 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis.The company's PAT reduced by 13.06 per cent to Rs 809 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to previous quarter. It's PAT margin contracted by 68 basis points to 9.31 per cent in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis.

On the segmental front, Idea earned 90.19 per cent of total revenue from Mobility segment, 7.34 per cent of total revenue from Infrastructure segment, and remaining 2.47 per cent of total revenue from Long Distance & others segment in Q2FY16.

On yearly basis, Idea's revenue increased by 14.78 per cent to Rs 8689 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to same period in previous fiscal year. The company's EBITDA also increased by 22.74 per cent to Rs 3057 crore in Q2FY16 on yearly basis. Its EBITDA margin expanded by 228 basis points to 35.18 per cent in Q2FY16 on yearly basis. Idea's PAT increased by 7.06 per cent to Rs 809 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to the  same period in previous financial year. However, the company's PAT margin contracted by 68 basis points to 9.31 per cent in Q2FY16 on yearly basis.

Idea witnessed 26.3 million net subscriber VLR additions in October 2014 to September 2015 against 20.9 million addition in same period in previous year. The company is now serving 170.8 million quality customers. Its mobile data ARPU stood at Rs 144 in Q2FY16 against Rs 119 Q2FY15. Over the last one year, the 3G data subscriber base for the company has grown by 86 per cent with addition of 9.1 million, now serving 19.6 million 3G data customers. The data ARPU of 3G data customer is Rs 202 in Q2FY16.

Idea's shareholding pattern indicates that FII holdings contracted by 38 basis points to 24.05 per cent while DII holdings expanded by 40 basis points to 5.13 per cent in Q2FY16. The company plans to launch 4G services in 750 towns across 10 circles by the first half of 2016.

Idea Cellular provides telecom services. The Company operates through two business segments, including Mobility Services, which provides Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) based mobile and related telephony services, and International Long Distance (ILD), which provides international long distance services. It offers voice, data, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) services and other value added services (VAS). It operates in around 22 service areas in India and around 21 service areas respectively.