Anil Ambani's debt-ridden Reliance Communications (RCom), which is caught in a bind over its attempted spectrum sales to elder brother Mukesh Ambani's company, moved further into the red in the December quarters.
The company's net loss widened in the third quarter of FY19 as it is struggling to untangle the legal mess over the sale of its consumer telecommunications and DTH business to Reliance Jio, media reports say.
The troubled telco incurred a loss of Rs 238 crore on a consolidated basis in the December quarter compared to Rs 130 crore loss year on year. The company made a profit of Rs 1,141 crore in the September quarter of this fiscal.
The RCom stock was trading lower on Thursday, January 24, after losing 0.77 per cent to touch Rs 12.85.
The company incurred Rs 132 crore loss after tax from discontinued operations in the quarter, as opposed to Rs 140 crore loss in December quarter of FY18. In the September quarter, the loss after tax from discontinued operations was Rs 165 crore.
The total income on a consolidated basis rose marginally to Rs 1,083 crore during the December quarter in comparison to Rs 1,014 crore in the September quarter, and Rs 1,176 crore in the December quarter in the last fiscal.
The company posted a net loss of Rs 136 crore on a standalone basis down from Rs 6,707 crore during the previous quarter. RCom's loss on a standalone basis was Rs 144 crore in the December quarter in the previous fiscal.
RCom's total income on a standalone basis declined marginally in the third quarter of this fiscal to Rs 341 crore, from Rs 359 crore in the previous quarter, and Rs 497 crore in the December quarter of the previous fiscal.
RCom's loss after tax from discontinued operations hit the third quarter numbers with a loss of Rs 58 crore in the December quarter of this fiscal down from Rs 91 crore in the September quarter. In the December quarter of the previous financial year, the company suffered a loss of Rs 192 crore from discontinued operations.
An interesting feature of the number the company filed with the bourses is that it performed better abroad than it did in India. During Q3 FY19, the company's revenue collection amounted to Rs 779 crore from global operations and only Rs 415 crore from India operations, the Business Today website reported.
"The company is confident that it will fulfil its commitments in respect of the operational creditor and the minority shareholders as well as finalise and implement a suitable comprehensive Monetisation and Resolution Plan (MRP), also incorporating strategic transformation programme," RCom said in its statement to the bourses.
