MTNL loss widens to Rs 654.56 crore in September qtr

State-owned telecom firm MTNL on Friday reported widening of consolidated loss to Rs 654.56 crore in the September quarter, mainly due to decline in revenue from operations and increase in finance cost.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 582.25 crore in the year-ago period.

The revenue from operations fell about 7 per cent to Rs 425.04 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 458.28 crore in the same period a year ago.

In the latest September quarter, MTNL’s finance cost increased to Rs 533.01 crore from Rs 509.8 crore in the year-ago period.

The company’s revenue from basic landline and other wireline services dropped to Rs 250.77 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 297.26 crore in the same period a year ago.

MTNL incurred a loss of Rs 18.64 crore in the wireline services business even after excluding interest income, finance cost and tax.

Revenue from the cellular business increased 22 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 55.3 crore. However, loss in the segment before interest income, finance cost and tax widened to around Rs 115 crore in the 2021 September quarter from Rs 111.36 crore in the year-ago period.

After the government’s revival package for the company, employee cost has come down to the range of 25-30 per cent of the revenues from 80-85 per cent earlier. PTI