Norwegian company Telenor, which has a telecom joint venture with Unitech, said its profit more than doubled to 3 billion Norwegian krone (about Rs 25.36 billion) in the first quarter of 2011, boosted by Asian operations.
The entity had a profit of NOK 1.14 billion in the same quarter of previous fiscal. In a statement, Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO, Telenor, said, ?The Asian operations were the main contributors to subscriber and revenue growth. Uninor in India continued the trend from second half of 2010, with subscriber growth of 5.2 million, reaching 17.4 million.?
According to the statement, ?In India, Telenor is the majority partner in the joint venture with Unitech Wireless. Unitech Wireless? revenues rose to NOK 548 million during the period under review, against NOK 55 million in the corresponding period a year-ago.?
However, operating loss stood at NOK 1.2 billion during the first quarter ended March 31 whereas the same was at NOK 1.13 billion in the year-ago period.
At the end of the first quarter of 2011, Telenor?s ownership interest in Uninor was 67.25 per cent.
Going forward, the firm expects organic revenue growth at above 5 per cent in 2011 and capital expenditure as a proportion of revenues, excluding licences and spectrum, in the range of 12-13 per cent.
The statement further added, ?Capital expenditure as a proportion of revenues, excluding licences and spectrum, is in range of 12-13 per cent. Telenor expects Uninor will contribute with an EBITDA loss around NOK 4 billion and capital expenditure in the range of NOK 1.0-1.5 billion.?
