RCom reports net loss of Rs 531 crore in Q3

Reliance Communication reported consolidated net loss of Rs 531 crore in its third quarter ended December 31, 2016, result, compared to net profit of Rs 303 crore in similar period of the previous year. 

On net loss, RCom said, "The company witnessed unprecedented competitive intensity. This was the first full quarter after Company’s complete shutdown of its profitable CDMA operations. Also, there was an increase in amortisation and interest expense aggregating Rs. 278 crore on account of capitalisation of 850 MHz spectrum liberalisation fee."

Consolidated total income from operations stood at Rs 4822 crore, declining by 11.03% year-on-year (YoY) and 5.45% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). 

While consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) dropped by 21.8% to Rs 1206 crore against Rs 1542 crore a year ago same period. 

On standalone front, RCom saw net loss narrowing to Rs 280 crore from net loss of Rs 477 crore in Q3FY16 and Rs 864 crore in Q2FY17. Total income was at Rs 2185 crore down by 10.77% yoy. 

Further RCom said, "It expects significant long-term benefits from its unique access to Reliance Jio's extensive and state-of-the-art 4G LTE network at minimal capex and opex. It enables RCOM to
provide differentiated and best-in-class 4G LTE services to its valued subscribers."

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) this Q3 were: 

Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) at 40 paisa, down 10.5% Q-o-Q

Total minutes of use (MOU) at 102.1 billion, up 4.3% Q-o-Q

ARPU at Rs. 154, down 0.6% Q-o-Q

The total data customer base is 32 million including 23.4 million 3G/4G customers in Q3.

The total data traffic at 93.7 billion MB is down over 10% Q-o-Q. The traffic has decreased mainly due to severe competitive intensity.