Reliance Communications (RCOM) has reported, on a consolidated basis, net profit of Rs. 250.89 crore for the quarter ended June 30th 2009, down 79.43% from Rs. 1219.5 crore reported for the last sequential quarter. This decline in profitability was on a 0.32% increase in revenues, up to Rs. 5109 crores, from Rs. 5092 crores for the same quarter last fiscal. The company reported a significant increase of 43.14% in its debt-equity ratio, up to 0.73, as net debt rose to Rs. 28,481.3 crore. This has been quite a slide for RCOM, as profit reported in Q1-11 was 84.67% lower than the Rs. 1636.6 crore profit reported for the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue too has declined 16.86% year on year. RCOMs wireless revenues and EBITDA were flat quarter on quarter, though the segment reported a significant decline in EBITDA of 27.88% year on year, as EBITDA margin fell 29.17% year on year to 28.9%. Competitor Bharti Airtel The broader trend in the wireless segment has been towards a decline in average revenue per user per month (38.1% year on year), and with increased competition in the market, revenue per minute has also declined (44% down year on year). However, what is rather surprising is a decline in the minutes of use per subsriber, which have also been falling quarter on quarter - from 365 minutes in Q1 last fiscal to 295 minutes this fiscal - a decline of 19.18%. All of this is symptomatic of the price war and multiple…
