Telecom operators revenue, EBITDA to improve in Q4: Axis Capital

Buoyant on the tariff hike by telecom operators in December, service providers’ revenue and EBITDA will improve in the fourth quarter ended March 31, even though the full impact is expected in the first quarter.

The first quarter of the financial year is when most users when most of the customers opt recharge, according to a study by Axis Capital.

Reliance Jio Infocomm’s revenue and subscriber market share gain to continue though at a moderate rate versus past few quarters, while Bharti Infratel is likely to have a muted quarter with modest tenancy addition. Tejas Networks is likely to have another soft quarter after a weak third quarter on reduction in revenue from government projects and Covid-19 impact.

Sterlite Technologies’ revenue and margin to contract on a quarter-on-quarter due to the pressure on pricing and volume of products and also services impacted by Covid-19.

The telecom service providers’ topline growth would be about 3.6-6.1 percent on a QoQ basis, led by the price hike. RJio and Bharti Airtel would benefit from the price hike and subscriber additions, while subscriber loss is expected to continue for Vodafone Idea.

EBITDA to benefit from pass-through of the price hike with margin improvement in the range of 20 basis points (bps) QoQ to 80 bps QoQ for Indian wireless business. While, EBITDA will benefit from pass-through of the price hike with margin improvement in the range of 20 BPS QoQ to 80 BPS QoQ for Indian wireless business, it added.

―The Hindu Business Line