Aircel gross revenue in the first quarter of 2013-14 increased 9.9 percent to Rs 2,600 crore from Rs 2,366 crore in the same period previous fiscal.
The 10 percent increase in gross revenue is significant as Aircel last year decided to reduce presence in a number of telecom circles. However, Aircel never exited from these less lucrative telecom circles.
For comparison, Sistema Shyam TeleServices (MTS India) revenue decreased 30 percent year-on-year to $52 million in the second quarter. Closure of telecom circles impacted the revenue growth.
However, MTS India’s second quarter revenues in 9 operational circles grew 2.4 percent q-o-q. Its operational circles include Delhi, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (West) & West Bengal.
Aircel, rival of MTS India, last year decided to focus on markets including Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Northeast, where it has a strong base of mobile customers.
Last year, the company, as part of a major restructuring program, decided to cut down operations in five circles such as Madhya Pradesh-Chattisgarh, Kerala, UP (West), Haryana and Gujarat.
Recently, Aircel said it is looking to break even in the Kolkata and Bengal circles by early 2014-15.
While the focus will remain on pushing data usage through pocket internet packs, Aircel is targeting to increase its per minute realization in the voice segment by around 12 per cent over the next one year. Around 85 per cent of the revenues are from the voice segment with the remaining 15 per cent from data.
Last month, Avendus India Equity Research said Aircel may cut back operations in few circles.
The Avendus report says cash drought faced by most Indian telecoms has increased the likelihood of sustained improvement in realizations. Key Indian telecom players may require realizations to increase between 20 percent and 92 percent for specific financial goals, ranging from conducting profitable operations to generating higher return on capital employed for consolidated businesses.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
