Tata Communications reports surge in net profit on back of TTSL shares sale

Indian fixed line and broadband operator Tata Communications has released its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2009, posting a more than five-fold increase in net profit following a one-off gain from the sale of shares in Tata TeleServices (TTSL). Tata Communications reported net profit for the three-month period at INR3.02 billion (USD60.5 million), up from INR589 million a year earlier; the company raised INR2.86 billion (net of taxes) from its shares sale to Japan’s NTT DoCoMo. Consolidated revenue, meanwhile, rose more than 20% year-on-year to INR99.63 billion, compared to INR82.97 at end-March 2008, while consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 53% at INR13.5 billion.