Volatility in the rupee hit British telecom major Vodafone’s revenue from its services in India in the quarter ended June. The company’s revenue from India stood at £1,029 million (Rs 8,900 crore), compared with £1,039 million (Rs 8,987 crore) in the corresponding period last year, a fall of one per cent.
However, compared to the quarter ended March, services revenue rose 16.2 per cent. Regulatory changes hit revenue from data and messaging services. Growth of Indus Towers, in which Vodafone holds a stake along with Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, also fell.
“Growth this quarter was 4.9 per cent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, which had benefited from higher year-on-year customer growth. The first quarter saw the introduction of regulatory changes which impacted the way integrated rates could be offered to customers,” Vodafone stated.
Messaging revenue fell 13.6 per cent, while data revenue declined 4.5 per cent.
“Indus Towers also recorded lower growth, following a slowdown in tenancies from new entrants and a change in the pricing structure for a few existing customers,” the company stated. The tower business was affected, as a few entrants into the telecom business cancelled their operations after the Supreme Court quashed licences allocated in 2008.
Vodafone said it was hit by weak consumer confidence in Italy and Spain and poor economy and increasing competition in Britain and a slight slowdown in India. Its corporate unit was also hit by less demand from small and medium sized businesses across Europe.
However, the company’s closing customer base rose 8.6 per cent in the quarter. Vodafone said it saw strong growth in incoming and outgoing mobile voice minutes and 1.6 per cent growth in the effective outgoing rate per minute.
