Telecom entity Telenor Group today posted a nearly seven-fold jump in profit at 9.49 billion Norwegian kroner for the second quarter ended June 30, driven by strong revenue growth in its Asian business.
The company had reported a profit of 1.37 billion kroner in the corresponding period last year, the statement said.
Telenor's revenue rose 2.72 per cent to 25.2 billion kroner in the second quarter, it said.
"I am pleased to see that the positive trends continued into the second quarter with increasing organic revenue growth and solid margins," Telenor President and CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said.
During the quarter the company's consolidated operations added 5.4 million mobile subscriptions and in Asia it had an organic revenue growth of 13 per cent.
"The economic environment in Asia continued to improve, fuelling the revenue growth in Telenor's operations," the company stated.
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Telenor is present in India through its JV partnership with Indian realty major Unitech under the Uninor brand.
"In June, we launched services in five additional circles in India, increasing our footprint to 13 circles. We are continuously working to increase revenues and develop Uninor's position in the market," Baksaas added.
Uninor saw an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of 1.32 billion kroner in the second quarter of this year, mainly driven by network operations as well as sales and marketing expenses.
Its revenue in local currency increased by 75 per cent compared to the last quarter, led by growth in the subscription base and higher Average Revenue Per User(ARPU), the statement said.
At the end of the second quarter of 2010 Telenor's ownership interest in Uninor was 67.25 per cent.
In June 2010, Uninor launched mobile services in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kolkata and West Bengal. Uninor is now present in 13 circles in India, with a total population of approximately 900 million.
Uninor's number of subscriptions increased by 17,18,000 during the quarter, reaching a total subscription base of 38,73,000, the company stated.