Reliance Communications Q2 net rises five-fold to Rs 675 crore

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications on Tuesday posted a five-fold jump in second quarter net profit owing to a writeback from an earlier provision.

The Anil Ambani-led Reliance group company reported a net profit of Rs 675 crore for the July-September period, including a Rs 441-crore writeback for restructuring provisions the company had made earlier under court order.

Nonetheless, the profit without the writeback was still higher than the same period a year ago by 130 per cent, marking the first profit rise in five quarters.

The company reported a 7 per cent increase in revenue at Rs 5,361 crore, with its biggest operating leverage coming from a Rs 120-crore drop in employee costs.

For the last three years the company has been bogged down by high interest costs as it is one of the highest leverage Indian telecom companies.

The company, which has been making offers to target heavy data users, reported 9.1 million users on its 3G Internet services business.

During the quarter Reliance Communications offered the most attractive bundled offer for the Apple iPhone 5s. Earlier this year it had made a pact with Apple to become an affiliated operator.