Idea Cellular shares end nearly 2% down

Shares of telecom operator Idea Cellular on Wednesday fell by nearly 2% on profit-booking even after the company reported a 28% rise in consolidated net profit in the June quarter.

The stock ended the day with a loss of 1.84% at Rs 178.95 on BSE. During the day, it shed 3.15% to Rs 176.55.

The stock had opened the day on a positive note but later succumbed to profit-booking.

At the NSE, shares of Idea declined by 1.72% to Rs 179 at close to Rs 64,398.95 crore.

On the volume front, 6.93 lakh shares of the company changed hands at BSE and over 82 lakh shares were traded at the NSE during the day.

"Telecom major Idea Cellular corrected sharply in the day. The company indicated pressure on its voice and data businesses," said Hiren Dhakan, Associate Fund manager, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.

Country''s third largest telecom operator Idea Cellular yesterday reported a 28% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 930.8 crore in the June quarter despite a cut in interconnect charges and a cap on roaming rates as it faced continued pressure on voice business.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 728.20 crore in the corresponding period last year.

At consolidated level, gross revenue grew 16.4% to Rs 8,798.3 crore. This included a 16% revenue contribution from its telecom mast arm Indus Towers. Voice and data services also added to the higher revenue realisation.

The Aditya Birla Group firm clarified the numbers are not strictly comparable due to changes in the interconnect regulations introduced by the regulator Trai effective March 1, 2015 which massively reduced mobile incoming IUC charges.