Idea Cellular

2QFY09 earnings disappoint: Idea’s 2QFY09 PAT declined 45% QoQ and 35% YoY to Rs1.44b (40% below est).
While revenues grew 5.8% QoQ (in-line), EBITDA margin declined sharply by ~650bp YoY and QoQ to 26.2%
(v/s est of 30.8%). ARPU was down 6% QoQ and 9% YoY to Rs261. RPM declined by 5% QoQ to Rs0.62. Total
volumes carried on the network increased 10% QoQ and 93% YoY to 36.3b. Minutes of use per subscriber declined
2.6% QoQ to 417min on seasonal weakness. EBITDA per min declined sharply by 24% QoQ to Rs0.16 and EBITDA/
sub declined 25% QoQ to Rs68/month.