Idea tanks nearly 4% after Q2 profit takes sharp plunge

Idea Cellular fell by nearly 4 per cent today after the company reported an 88 per cent plunge in consolidated net profit for the September quarter.
The stock went down by as much as 3.83 per cent to Rs 74.05 on BSE.
On NSE, it lost 3.58 per cent to Rs 74.05.
Idea Cellular, country's third-largest telecom operator, yesterday announced an 88 per cent plunge in consolidated net profit at Rs 91.46 crore in the September quarter due to higher expenses.
Net profit stood at Rs 762.27 crore in the corresponding three-month period a year ago.
"Higher network running expenses due to accelerated expansion, increased subscriber acquisition and servicing cost, and multiple inflationary pressures resulted in overall operating cost increase," the cellular firm said in a statement.

The company further said its margin was adversely impacted by one-time depreciation charge of Rs 1,954.3 crore and finance cost of Rs 875.3 crore. The launch of 4G services in 10 circles and 3G in some areas also had its impact on margin.
The revenue of Idea Cellular, however, increased by 7.2 per cent to Rs 9,300.23 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 8,675.37 crore in the year-ago period.