State-owned telecom company MTNL on Friday reported narrowing of consolidated loss to Rs. 653 crore in the June quarter. The company had posted a loss of Rs 688.69 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations of MTNL fell by about 17 per cent to Rs. 250.72 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal, according to a regulatory filing.
In the year-ago period, the same stood at Rs. 301.15 crore.
In a note, auditors of MTNL have previously stated that the company’s net worth has been fully eroded.
The note said the Department of Public Enterprises has declared the company as an incipient sick Central Public Sector Enterprise and the same has been confirmed by the Department of Telecom.
The consolidated financial result of the holding company has been prepared on a going concern basis keeping in view the majority stake of the government, the note said.
In July 2022, the Union Cabinet approved raising of sovereign guarantee bonds for MTNL for an amount of Rs 17,571 crore for the next two financial years.
On August 8, Bharti Airtel revealed that consolidated revenue from operations rose to Rs. 32,805 crore in the June quarter. The telecom operator reported a 22.2 percent increase in quarterly revenue, on the back of new 4G subscriber additions and increased data consumption.
A month ago, India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm reported a nearly 24 percent year-on-year rise in its standalone net profit to Rs. 4,335 crore for the June 2022 quarter. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio clocked revenue from operations of Rs. 21,873 crore in the just-ended quarter, which was 21.5 percent higher than the year-ago period, according to a filing.