Tata Communications shines on nod for sale of subsidiary

Tata Communications has sold its subsidiary Neotel to Liquid Telecom, a pan-African telecom group, majority owned by Econet Wireless Global. Liquid Telecom has received unconditional approval from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) for acquisition of Neotel.

The board of Tata Communications at its meeting recommended to the shareholders of Neotel the sale of the entire shareholding in Neotel, subject to approval of the ICASA.

On the financial front, Tata Communications’ revenue declined 0.72 per cent to Rs 4509 crore in Q2FY17 as compared to the same period in the previous financial year. The company’s EBITDA dropped 3.37 per cent to Rs 618 crore in Q2FY17 on a yearly basis. It posted net profit of Rs 39.96 crore in Q2FY17 as against net profit of Rs 112 crore in Q2FY16.

The share price of Tata Communications increased 6.15 per cent on the bourses in early trades and is trading at Rs 658 on intra-basis. The stock has given return of 10.65 per cent in last one month. It has also given dividend yield of 0.65 per cent.