Indus Towers Limited has announced its audited consolidated results for the quarter and full year ended March 31, 2023. The consolidated revenue for the quarter declined by five per cent on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis from Rs 71.16 billion during the quarter ended March 2022 to Rs 67.53 billion during the quarter ended March 2023. Further, the consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 15 per cent from Rs 40.70 billion to Rs 34.47 billion during the period. This represented an operating margin of 51 per cent.
The net profit for the quarter reduced by 23 per cent from Rs 18.29 billion during the quarter ended March 2022 to Rs 13.99 billion during the quarter ended March 2023. The operating free cash flow for the company stood at Rs 11.55 billion, down by 58 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis. Meanwhile, the return on equity (pre-tax) dropped to 12.8 per cent as against 44.3 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis. Moreover, the return on capital employed dropped to 11 per cent as against 25.7 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis.
The financials of the quarter ended March 2022 included a one-time positive impact of Rs 5.47 billion on account of deferred recognition of revenue from past settlements. In 2022-23, the company adhered to prudent accounting practices and reflected the stress on its receivables due to collection challenges faced from one of the major customers.
Commenting on the financial results, Prachur Sah, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Indus Towers Limited (Formerly Bharti Infratel Limited), said, “We ended the year on a positive note with a robust operational performance and improvement in collections during the last quarter. The renewal of co-locations with our major customers during the year has secured our business over the long run. Furthermore, the rapid pace of 5G rollouts and new tower rollouts supported by our major customer’s focus on expansion are expected to act as strong levers of growth for the foreseeable future. Being the largest passive infrastructure player in the country, we are well placed to tread this growth path in a sustainable way.”
