Uninor reduces losses to Rs 569 cr in Apr-Jun: Telenor

[1]

Norway-based telecom giant Telenor ASA has narrowed down operating losses of its Indian operations to 619 million Norwegian krone (Rs 569 crore) in the April-June quarter of this year.

The company's Indian unit Uninor registered an operating loss of 619 million Norwegian krone against that of 1.2 billion Norwegian krone in the same period last year, Telenor said in a statement.

Uninor witnessed 48.2 per cent jump in revenues to 1.03 billion Norwegian krone in the quarter under review, it said.

Telenor holds about 67 per cent stake in the Indian joint venture Uninor while the rest is being owned by domestic real estate major Unitech.

Uninor added 2.2 million new subscribers in India during the quarter, taking the total base to 33.7 million.

Telenor has attributed its good quarterly performance to increase in subscription base.

Uninor, whose licences were revoked along with other operators by the Supreme Court of India in February this year, would scale down operations in four telecom circles – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Orissa.

"As a response to the uncertain regulatory environment we are now re-allocating resources to the nine most profitable circles. In this manner, we aim to shorten the time and reduce the cost for the operation to become self-financed, thereby reducing the risk of the India investment," Baksaas added.

It operates in 13 telecom circles in India, at present. Besides, Telenor announced a share buyback scheme of three per cent of outstanding shares.

Overall, Telenor Group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, rose to 7.84 billion Norwegian kroner in the three months ended June 30 from 7.24 billion Norwegian kroner a year earlier, and revenues grew by 4.1 per cent to 25.35 billion Norwegian krone.

For the full year, Telenor continues to expect revenue growth excluding India to rise more than 4 per cent and expects EBITDA margin in the range of 35-36 per cent.

"Due to the high uncertainty in India, Telenor is currently providing financial guidance for 2012 for the group not including Uninor," it said.