Idea Cellular posted revenue of Rs 81,665 million, EBITDA of Rs 18,753 million with EBITDA margin of 23 percent and net loss of Rs 8,150 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.

Idea Cellular’s revenue fell to Rs 81,665 million in Q1 fiscal 2018 from Rs 94,866 million in Q1 fiscal 2017.

Idea Cellular financials

Revenue fell to Rs 81,665 mn from Rs 94,866 mn
EBITDA dipped to Rs 18,753 mn from Rs 30,948 mn
EBITDA margin dropped to 23% from 32.6%
Opex decreased to Rs 62,911 mn from Rs 63,919 mn
net loss of Rs 8,150 mn against net profit of Rs 2,204 mn

Idea Cellular Capex

Idea Cellular added 1,608 3G cell sites and 5,724 4G cell sites
Capex was Rs 11.7 billion
Idea’s 3G and 4G covers 524 million Indians
Idea’s 3G and 4G reaches 106,000 towns and villages
increased Fibre network by nearly 53,000 km

Idea mobile Internet

Mobile data users fell to 38.1 mn in Q1FY18 from 42.2 million in Q4FY17
4G subscribers doubled to 6.5 mn in Q1FY18 from 3.1 million in Q4FY17
Data usage on 4G reached 67.6 bn MB in Q1FY18
Mobile data volume grew 99%
Mobile data rate fell 52.9% to 5.4 paisa/MB from 11.5 paisa in Q4FY17
To launch VoLTE by early calendar year 2018

Idea Cellular’s EBITDA decreased to Rs 18,753 million from Rs 30,948 million and EBITDA margin reached 23 percent from 32.6 percent.

EBITDA during the quarter declined 11.5 percent to Rs 18,753 million compared to Rs 21,199 million in Q4 FY 2017, largely due to higher operating cost related to Roaming and Access (as outgoing minutes increased) and network expenses. EBITDA margin for the quarter declined from 26.1 percent in Q4 FY 2017 to 23 percent in Q1 FY 2018.

Idea Cellular’s Opex decreased to Rs 62,911 million from Rs 63,919 million.

The Aditya Birla group company reported a net loss of Rs 8,150 million against a net profit of Rs 2,204 million. Idea Cellular has posted net loss in Q3 fiscal 2017 and Q4 fiscal 2017. Idea posted net profit of Rs 914 million in Q2 fiscal 2017.
Idea Cellular Capex

Idea Cellular has added 1,608 3G cell sites and 5,724 4G cell sites.

Idea Cellular has 248,445 cell sites including 131,059 for 2G, 70,810 for 3G and 46,576 for 4G.

The company’s Capex was Rs 11.7 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The Capex guidance for FY 2018 stands at Rs 60 billion.

Idea Cellular has expanded its wireless broadband infrastructure by 3.5 times in two years by adding 83,765 3G and 4G sites expanding the network to 117,386 broadband sites.

Idea’s wireless broadband network — on 3G and 4G platform — now covers 524 million Indians across all 22 service areas in ~106,000 towns and villages.

Idea Cellular added 46,576 4G sites to expand its 4G-LTE presence to ~47,000 towns & villages and now covers 30.2 percent population or 353 million Indians in 20 service areas.

Mobile data users on Idea network declined from 42.2 million in Q4FY17 to 38.1 million in Q1FY18.

4G subscribers more than doubled from 3.1 million in Q4FY17 to 6.5 million in Q1FY18.

Data usage on 4G platform reached 67.6 billion MB in Q1FY18 from 18.7 billion MB in Q4FY17.

Mobile data volume grew 99.1 percent on sequential quarterly basis as Idea’s wireless broadband network carried 252.8 billion Mega Bytes in Q1FY18, nearly double the traffic consumption in Q4FY17. Mobile data rate declined 52.9 percent to 5.4 paisa/MB from 11.5 paisa in Q4FY17.

Idea’s 4G network utilization (excluding still to be deployed 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz capacity spectrum) remains below 30 percent.

The deployment of 2300 MHz or 2500 MHz spectrum band in 5 of its markets during the current fiscal year will boost Idea’s 4G capacity in these key markets.

The company will introduce VoLTE – Voice services on 4G LTE network by early calendar year 2018.

Idea increased its Fibre network by nearly 53,000 km against 95,100 km in Q1FY16 to 148,100 km in Q1FY18.