Idea Cellular Q1 net jumps 57 per cent on higher voice rates, data use

Idea Cellular has reported a 57 per cent jump in quarterly profit, benefiting from fewer competitors, higher call rates and more customers using data plans.

India's third-biggest mobile phone operator by users and revenue on Monday said consolidated first-quarter profit was Rs 7.28 billion ($120.8 million), up from Rs 4.63 billion a year earlier.

Analysts had expected Idea, part of the Aditya Birla conglomerate and nearly a fifth-owned by Malaysia's Axiata, to earn Rs 6.29 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue at the company rose to Rs 75.55 billion from Rs 65.34 billion last year.

Leading mobile carriers in India started gaining market share in 2013 and were able to raise prices of voice calls after a court order on a licensing scandal forced some smaller companies out of the market.

Unlike rival Bharti Airtel, which has other businesses, Idea is solely a mobile phone services company and only operates within India, making it a preferred telecom stock for some brokerages.

Monthly average revenue per user, an important metric to evaluate the health of telecom carriers, rose 4.6 per cent on the previous quarter to Rs 181. Average realisation per minute, another key metric, rose to Rs 0.45 from Rs 0.44 in the fourth quarter.

Idea also said that net debt had been cut by Rs 52.09 million to Rs 139.77 million in the quarter, adding that the reduction allows it to participate in a forthcoming spectrum auction.

Idea Cellular, which has already bought airwaves for $1.75 billion from a state auction this year, needs to buy more in the next sale to renew its permits in nine service areas.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 139.75 on the bourses.