Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), which faces uncertain future due to cancellation of its telecom licences, on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs.1,197.70 crore in the fourth quarter (October-December, 2011) against a loss of Rs.605 crore (quarter-on-quarter).
In 2011, the SSTL's net loss widened to Rs.3,531.40 crore from Rs.2,168.60 crore in 2010, though its consolidated revenues went up to Rs.1,234.90 crore during the year from Rs.523.90 crore.
The consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter also increased to Rs.392.30 crore from Rs.193.70 crore in the same quarter in 2010.
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Hoping that SSTL, a joint venture between Russia's Sistema and India's Shyam Group, would succeed in resolving all telecom licensing issues, its President and Chief Executive Officer Vsevolod Rozanov said: “In spite of all these challenges, we remain committed to further expand our voice and data business and looks upon the Indian government to move fast to resolve all issues being faced by the telecom sector.”
Talking about the financial performance, Mr. Rozanov said the growth in revenues reflected the strong performance delivered by the company. “This has been possible due to the huge investments made by SSTL. However, due to the nature of the telecom business and the aggressive expansion plans of the company, net income continues to be negative. In-addition, the current operating environment also remains uncertain,” he pointed out.
SSTL's investments at the end of 2011 stood at Rs.6,443 crore. Its mobile subscriber base increased by 13.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter and reached 1.5 crore customers as of December 31, 2011, while the data card subscriber base for the last quarter went up by 25 per cent to 13.4-lakh subscribers even as the company expanded its high-speed data services to over 300 towns across India.
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