Idea Cellular erases initial losses to gain even after poor Q1 results

STOCK MARKET - Idea Cellular pared initial losses to gain as much as 2.1% on value buying after the company on Thursday posted a loss of Rs 815.9 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, missing estimates as Reliance Jio triggered a price war in the Indian mobile telephony market.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 217.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. This is the company’s its third net loss in succession. Revenue for India’s No. 3 mobile phone operator also fell nearly 14% on year to Rs 8,166.5 crore.

Idea attributed the steep decline in voice and mobile data realisations to the aggressive tariff led by unlimited voice and data bundle plans. “However, the fall in realisation rate was largely compensated by a substantial volume growth,” it said.

The scrip lost as much as 5.4% in the early morning trade but later erased initial losses and was trading 0.7% higher at Rs 90.30 at 12.47 pm (IST). On the other hand, Sensex was down 0.57 per cent at 32,198.

Shares of the company had hit their fresh 52-week high of Rs 123.75 on March 20, 2017 and 52-week low of Rs 66 on November 9, 2016.

Idea ended June with 189 million users, compared with 189.5 million it had at the end of March.

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