Reliance Communications Q3 net falls 61%

NEW DELHI: Reliance Communications reported a 61% fall in quarterly profit -- its 10th straight quarter of declining earnings, but in line with market estimates -- as the country's second-biggest mobile phone operator by subscribers struggles under a heavy debt load.

Reliance Comm, which last month secured $1.18 billion loans from Chinese state banks to repay maturing foreign bonds, has long been trying to sell assets to cut its debt -- $6.5 billion as of September -- but has so far had little success.

The company, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, competes with 14 other carriers in the ferociously-competitive Indian market. It is reported to be in talks with US buyout giants Blackstone and Carlyle on selling its telecoms tower arm in a deal that could be worth more than $3 billion.
Sources have cautioned that a deal is not yet close to completion, and a history of unsuccessful deal-making has made investors sceptical.

Reliance is also looking to raise up to $1.5 billion in a Singapore listing of its undersea cable business, sources said last month.

The company said consolidated net profit fell to 1.86 billion rupees for its fiscal third quarter ended December, from 4.80 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts in a Reuters poll of brokerages had on average expected net profit of 1.95 billion rupees for Reliance, which had more than 150 million mobile customers in India's fast-growing market as of December.

In a verdict that is likely to shake up India's telecoms industry, the Supreme Court last week ordered revoking 122 zonal licences issued to companies in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale.

Reliance Communications is not affected by the court ruling for revoking licences, but one of its units and three group executives are among 19 people and six companies charged so far by police in the telecoms probe as a trial continues.

Ahead of the results shares in Reliance Communications, which has a market value of nearly $4 billion, closed 1.2% lower in a Mumbai market that fell 0.5%.

Reliance Communications stock has rebounded this year to be up more than 34%, after losing more than half of its value last year, beating a nearly 15% rise in the benchmark index in 2012 and far outstripping rival Bharti Airtel's about 2% gain.