RCom Q3 net loss narrows to Rs 1.3 bn due to sale of wireless assets

Debt-ridden Reliance Communications on Monday reported narrowing of its consolidated loss to Rs 1.3 billion for the quarter to December 2017, mainly on account of closure of its loss-making mobile telephony business.

The company had reported a loss (attributable to equity holders) of Rs 5.31 billion in the same period a year ago. It also sharply lowered loss from Rs 27.12 billion in the July- September 2017 period.

"RCom's planned exit from the consumer business has achieved more than the desired results. RCom has reduced its net loss by over 95 per cent. Rcom expects to deliver even better financial performance in the coming quarters," RCom Chairman Anil D Ambani said in a statement.

The company continues to operate business-to-business (B2B) solution which comprises global and Indian enterprise, internet data centres (IDC), global submarine cable network and international long distance voice with about 40,000 global and Indian customers.

The revenue of the company declined by about 30 per cent to Rs 11.76 billion in the reported quarter from Rs 16.98 billion it posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

During the quarter, RCom announced to exit from RBI's strategic debt restructuring (SDR) framework. The company signed the agreements for sale of wireless, spectrum (excluding 4G spectrum under sharing), tower, fiber and media convergence node (MCN) assets.

"Rcom's asset monetisation is on track to close by March 2018, subject to lenders' consents and other regulatory approvals," the statement said.

The result was announced after closing of the share tradings.

Share of RCom closed at Rs 27.25 a unit, down by 3.88 per cent compared to previous close, at the BSE today.