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Tag: RCom

  • Reliance Communications comprehensive loses amount to Rs 2,068 crore in Q3

    Reliance Communications comprehensive loses amount to Rs 2,068 crore in Q3

    MUMBAI: Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom.), once a dominant force in the Indian telecom sector, continues its painful spiral into financial oblivion. The latest Q3 FY25 results make for grim reading, with deepening losses, shrinking revenues, and an insolvency process that looks more like a never-ending courtroom drama. The company, under corporate insolvency resolution since 2019, posted a staggering net loss of Rs 2,068 crore for the quarter ending 31 December 2024, further extending its financial nightmare.

    But is there a miracle in sight? Or is RCom. doomed to be a cautionary tale in corporate history?

    Standalone Results

    RCom.’s revenue from operations in Q3 FY25 stood at Rs 65 crore, marginally slipping from Rs 66 crore in the previous quarter. Compared to Rs 71 crore in the same period last year, the company seems to be on a never-ending treadmill-moving, but going nowhere. The nine-month revenue isn’t offering much comfort either, standing at Rs 206 crore, a dip from Rs 220 crore in FY24. With operations at a standstill and no meaningful revenue streams, RCom.’s survival depends on asset monetisation. However, that process has been moving at the pace of a turtle on vacation.

    Consolidated Results

    RCom.’s financials for Q3 reveal a disaster unfolding in slow motion. If numbers could scream, these would be deafening.

    RCom.’s profit after tax (PAT) might as well be renamed loss after tax, as it posted a net loss of Rs 2323 crore for Q3 and a whopping Rs 6779 crore for the nine-month period. The losses are on autopilot, and there’s no emergency landing in sight. The EBITDA situation? Let’s just say it stands for “Empty Bucket DA”. There’s no sign of improvement, and the company continues to hemorrhage cash.

    Revenue from operations came in at Rs 87 crore for Q3, which, in telecom terms, is barely enough to keep the call centers running. The nine-month revenue stands at Rs 272 crore, proving that RCom.’s once-mighty earnings have taken a permanent vacation.

    If you’re an RCom. shareholder, consider looking away. The earnings per share (EPS) before exceptional items was (Rs 8.67) per share for Q3 and (Rs 25.10) per share for the nine-month period. After exceptional items? Let’s not even go there.

    To top it all off, the comprehensive loss for Q3 stood at Rs 2,373 crore, ballooning to Rs 6,878 crore for the nine-month period-because apparently, one kind of loss just wasn’t enough.

    The financial report reads less like a balance sheet and more like a horror novel. With no operational revenue and a debt mountain that refuses to shrink, the road ahead is looking rockier than ever.

    Discontinued Operations

    RCom.’s discontinued operations, including its wireless spectrum, towers, fibre, and media convergence nodes, continue to be the financial equivalent of quicksand. Despite being classified as “held for sale” since 2018, these assets remain unsold, haunting the company’s balance sheet like a ghost that refuses to be exorcised.

    The real horror story lies in the discontinued operations segment, where the company booked a massive provision of Rs 1,840 crore towards license and spectrum fees, sending the total net loss soaring to Rs 2,068 crore. For the nine-month period, RCom.’s total losses ballooned to Rs 6,012 crore, with discontinued operations contributing Rs 5,874 crore in losses. If you’re looking for signs of improvement, well, there aren’t any-the loss for the same period last year was Rs 6,232 crore.

    The segment’s revenue was a pathetic Rs 3 crore, against expenses of Rs 160 crore, leading to a Rs 156 crore loss. Making matters worse, the company has not accounted for interest on loans amounting to Rs 1,327 crore for Q3, further distorting its actual financial position.

    Debt and Insolvency

    RCom.’s financial position is about as stable as a house of cards in a hurricane. The company has defaulted on both interest and principal payments for years. Its total debts now exceed total assets, with a debt-to-assets ratio of 1.02. Net worth? Completely wiped out, standing at a shocking negative Rs 68,490 crore as of December 31, 2024.

    The insolvency resolution process remains stuck in legal limbo, with creditors desperately waiting for some sort of recovery. But with Supreme Court and NCLT hearings stretching on indefinitely, they might be waiting for a long, long time.

    Segment-wise performance

    . Telecom services: With just Rs 65 crore in revenue, the core business has all but collapsed. The segment continues to operate at a loss, and there’s no revival plan in sight.

    . Infrastructure and enterprise solutions: This segment is in hibernation mode, waiting for the insolvency proceedings to play out.

    .  Discontinued operations: The spectrum, towers, and fibre assets remain stranded, with no buyers in sight, making them a financial black hole.

    With no revenue growth, no operational revival, and mounting liabilities, RCom.’s future looks about as promising as a sinking ship without a lifeboat. The resolution process remains entangled in legal battles, and the much-needed asset sales haven’t made any progress. Creditors are frustrated, and shareholders have zero hope of recovery.

    Unless a miraculous acquisition or restructuring deal materialises, RCom. is likely to become a footnote in India’s corporate history-a grim reminder of how unchecked expansion, debt mismanagement, and regulatory battles can sink even the biggest players.

  • TDSAT upholds RCom petition against DoT on one-time spectrum charge

    TDSAT upholds RCom petition against DoT on one-time spectrum charge

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and  Appellate  Tribunal (TDSAT) upheld Reliance Communications Ltd’s (RCOM) petition against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), challenging DoT’s decision to impose One-Time Spectrum Charge  (OTSC)  on  its  contracted  CDMA  and  GSM  spectrum resources on 4 February 2019.

    Passing this order, TDSAT held that any telecom operator’s spectrum holdings of upto 5 MHz in the CDMA band and upto 6.2 MHz in the GSM band were exempt from any OTSC levies. TDSAT hence set aside the levy of OTSC on RCOM’s said spectrum.

    TDSAT has also directed DoT to return Rs 2,000 crore bank guarantee to RCom as per its earlier order passed on 3 July 2018.

  • TDSAT grants permission to RCom to sell spectrum

    TDSAT grants permission to RCom to sell spectrum

    MUMBAI: Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has given permission to Reliance Communications (RCom) to proceed with the sale of its spectrum. The telecom company would have to assure bank guarantees worth Rs 2900 crore as demanded by Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
    In its media release, the telecom company confirmed that it will be able to pay the Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericcsson its Rs 550 crore and the minority investors of Reliance Infratel (RITL) about Rs 230 crore, as agreed by the lenders.

    The official release stated, “Reliance Communications Ltd has been granted relief by the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal vide its Interim Order dated 1 October 2018, whereby TDSAT has stayed the demand of Bank Guarantee of Rs 2,900 Crore by the Department of Telecommunications”.
    “38 secured lenders of RCOM Group have already approved the sale of the above spectrum, and the proceeds thereof will be used for making payments to Ericsson India Private Ltd and to RITL Minority Investors, as per settlement terms,” continued the release.
    RCom even criticised the DoT for creating obstructions in the proceedings of the spectrum sale.

  • RCom sells Rs 3000 cr fibre assets to Jio

    RCom sells Rs 3000 cr fibre assets to Jio

    MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has completed the sale of its fibre assets worth Rs 3000 crore to Reliance Jio Infocomm on Monday. After the completion of the fibre monetisation transaction, 178,000 kilometres of fibre stand transferred to Reliance Jio, RCom said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

    RCom had last week completed the sale of its media convergence nodes(http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/rcom-sells-assets-worth-rs-2000-crore-to-reliance-jio-180823) and related infrastructure assets worth Rs 2,000 crore to Reliance Jio. The company said 248 MCNs covering about 5 million square feet of area used for hosting the telecom infrastructure were transferred to Reliance Jio.

    In December 2017, as part of its debt resolution plan, RCom had struck a Rs 25,000-crore deal with the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio for the sale of its assets mortgaged with different banks, to avoid insolvency proceedings. RCom’s assets are expected to contribute significantly to the large-scale roll out of wireless and fiber-to-home and enterprise services by Reliance Jio.

    The debt-laden company expects to raise about Rs 18,000 crore by selling the wireless assets to Jio and real estate assets to Canada’s Brookfield. The company also said that it would sell an additional 65 MHz spectrum in the 800 MHz band to Jio for Rs 3,500-3,700 crore. Last year, the company shut down its wireless services.

  • RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    MUMBAI: Four weeks ahead of telecom tribunal’s deadline, Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries have reinstated bank guarantees (BGs) aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) while the deadline was of 10 September.

    The issue stems from the time when DoT issued two show-cause notices to RCom. DoT threatened to cancel its licences in 14 circles and revoke spectrum allotted in 2013 and 2015. The latest move has ensured the non-cancellation of license and spectrum. Following the reinstating, the RCom stock was up 2.3 per cent at Rs 19.94 on the BSE at midday trade Monday.

    “RCom and its subsidiary, Reliance Telecom Ltd, have today reinstated bank guarantees aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), four weeks ahead of the last date of10 Sep 2018 as granted by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT),” said the telco in a regulatory filing on Monday.

    “The reinstatement of the BGs ensures that RCom’s licence and spectrum value of Rs 11,300 crore stands fully protected, and RCom is fully compliant with the guidelines of NIA 2013 and NIA 2015,” the telco added.

    Earlier RCom moved TDSAT against DoT’s notices and told the tribunal in prior hearings that cancelling licences would push the telco back into insolvency as it would not be able to complete deal with Jio. However, RCom expects to raise Rs 18,000 crore from the deal with Jio.

  • SC defers nod for RCom asset sale

    SC defers nod for RCom asset sale

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court today did not grant permission to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to sell its wireless assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, deferring the case for two weeks.

    The ruling marks a setback for RCom, which is trying to reduce its debt worth $6.8 billion and pay back its creditors. The Supreme Court set a hearing for April 5 to continue examining whether it will allow the sale to go through despite an ongoing legal challenge filed by Swedish telecom gearmaker Ericsson at an arbitration tribunal. The Swedish company had sought the court’s help to prevent RCom from selling assets without its permission.

    “In view of the intervening court holidays on 29th and 30th March 2018, the matter has been fixed for hearing in the subsequent week on Thursday, 5th April 2018,” RCom’s release to the BSE stated.

    State Bank of India, one of RCom’s biggest creditors, had filed a petition to the apex court to allow the sale to go through even as Ericsson’s case remained at the arbitration tribunal.

    RCom, controlled by Anil Ambani, had decided in December to sell its wireless assets to Jio in a deal pegged at $3.8 billion, according to market sources. 

    COMMENTS

    “As legally advised, RCom remains confident that its asset monetisation programme will be  completed  expeditiously  to protect  the  interests  of its secured  lenders,  much  in advance of the time limit of 31st August 2018 prescribed by the RBI for resolution of such cases,” the release added.

  • CCI okays RCom’s asset sale to Reliance Jio

    CCI okays RCom’s asset sale to Reliance Jio

    MUMBAI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared the proposals for the sale of assets of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

    “@CCI_India approves acquisition of RCOM’s towers, optic fiber cable, right to use spectrum and media convergence nodes by RJIO,” the anti-trust regulator tweeted. 

    The proposals cleared include RCom’s towers, India fibre, spectrum holdings and media convergence nodes. While neither Jio nor RCom had divulged the size of the deal, sources have pegged the transaction value at Rs 18,000 crore.
    The deal appears to be a win-win for both brothers as Jio gets most of RCom’s assets, giving it more firepower in its telecom business, while the Anil Ambani-promoted firm will reduce its debt overhang substantially.

    Anil Ambani on 26 December, 2017 said his company had agreed to a new debt resolution plan that will see RCom sell its assets—spectrum, fibre, telecom towers and real estate other than Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City—and did not entail lenders and bond-holders writing off dues or converting it into equity.

    Through this process, he hoped to cut RCom’s debt by Rs 39,000 crore from the Rs 45,000 crore it owed lenders at the end of October.

    According to the terms of the deal, Jio will buy RCom’s assets which include 122.4 MHz of 4G spectrum in the 800/900/1,800/2,100 MHz bands, over 43,000 towers, 178,000 RKM (route km) of fibre with a pan-India footprint and 248 media convergence nodes covering five million square feet, used for hosting telecom infrastructure. At the time of the deal announcement, the companies had also said that the transaction is likely to be completed in a phased manner by March 2018.

    RCom is also left with around 134 MHz of spectrum assets for which it is understood to have found other bidders.
    However, an arbitration panel in an interim order recently, restrained RCom from asset sale or transfer, without its “specific permission.”

    Also Read :

    RCom’s 3rd quarter numbers improve on Big TV, consumer business exit

    Reliance Jio acquires RCom’s wireless infra assets

    TV18 completes acquisition of Viacom shares

  • RCom’s 3rd quarter numbers improve on Big TV, consumer business exit

    RCom’s 3rd quarter numbers improve on Big TV, consumer business exit

    BENGALURU: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) reported 95 percent lower loss for the third quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, the quarter under review) as compared with the immediate trailing quarter (Q2 2018). The company reported loss of Rs 130 crore in Q3 2018 as against a loss of Rs 2,712 crore in Q2 2018. It had reported loss of Rs 531 crore in Q3 2017.

    After the planned exit from its consumer business that included wireless, direct-to-home (DTH – Reliance Big TV) and PCO, RCom is left with the B2B business. RCom’s B2B business comprises global and Indian enterprises, internet data centres (IDC), a global submarine cable network and international long-distance voice.

    The company said in its media release that it had 40,000 B2B global and Indian customers. It reported a 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter (qoq) revenue increase for its B2B business at Rs 1,176 crore for the quarter under review. Year on year, revenue in Q3 2018 declined by 30.7 percent from Rs 1698 crore.

    EBIDTA for the B2B business increased by 5.9 percent qoq to Rs 252 crore. Net profit after tax (PAT) increased by 28.6 percent q-o-q to Rs 27 crore from Rs 21 crore and was 68.8 percent higher y-o-y that Rs 16 crore.

    Revenue from Indian operations declined both qoq and yoy in Q3 2018 by 7.6 percent and 42.9 percent, respectively, to Rs 596 crore. The company had reported revenue from India operations of Rs 645 crore for Q2 2018 and Rs 1,043 crore for Q2 2017. RCom’s Indian operations’ operating profit reduced by 7.7 percent qoq to Rs 60 crore in Q3 2018 from Rs 65 crore but increased yoy from Rs 40 crore.

    Global operations revenue grew by 4.1 percent qoq in Q3 2018 to Rs 709 crore from Rs 681 crore but reduced by 37.4 percent yoy from Rs 1,132 crore. RCom reported operating profit of Rs 20 crore from its global operations in Q3 2018 as against loss of Rs 3 crore in the immediate trailing quarter but 44.4 percent lower yoy than the Rs 36 crore reported for Q3 2017.   

    RCom chairman Anil Ambani said, “RCom’s planned exit from the consumer business has achieved more than the desired results. RCom has reduced its net loss by over 95 percent. RCom expects to deliver even better financial performance in the coming quarters.”

    Also Read :

    Reliance Jio acquires RCom’s wireless infra assets

    Veecon Media acquires Reliance Big TV

  • CCI reviewing Jio-RCom pact for sharing 800 MHz spectrum

    MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm has sought approval from the Competion Commission (CCI) for the proposed spectrum sharing deal with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications. The CCI website states that the deal is under review.

    Jio is waiting for an approval from the CCI for pacts entered into with Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiary Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) for using 800 MHz spectrum, PTI reported. Jio, as is known, is the latest entrant in the highly competitive Indian telecom market.

    Jio had entered into an agreement with RCom for acquisition of right to use some spectrum in the 800 MHz band. Besides, it had, in January 2016, signed agreements with RTL and RCom providing with the option related to use of the spectrum.

    The pacts were “pursuant to the guidelines for trading of access spectrum by access service providers” issued by the Department of Telecommunications on October 12, 2015, as per the notice submitted to the CCI. According to the notice, Jio was testing its network for providing high definition voice, mobile telephone services, video, data and messaging as on the date of entering into the agreements.

  • NDTV Lifestyle: Board decides not to purchase Astro’s 49% stake

    MUMBAI: The NDTV board has decided not to buy 49 per cent stake held by South Asia Creative Assets Limited in NDTV Lifestyle Holdings Limited.

    The parent company of South Asia Creative Assets, Astro Malaysia, was in news recently for reportedly doing the due diligence of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Digital TV, the DTH business of the listed Reliance Communications for working out a suitable valuation, to which an RCom spokesperson denied comment.

    NDTV has now informed the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited that the Company board has approved the decision by NDTV Networks Li mited (“Networks”), a material subsidiary of the Company, not to exercise the option to purchase 49% stake held by South Asia Creative Assets Limited (“Astro”) in NDTV Lifestyle Holdings L imited (“LS Holdco”).

    The said offer was made by Astro vide transfer notice dated 2 June, 2017, pursuant to the.terms of the Subscription and Shareholders Agreement earlier entered amongst the Company, Networks, LS Holdco, N DTV Lifestyle Limited, Astro, Astro Overseas Limited and Astro Al l Asia Entertain ment Networks Limi ted.