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EconomyResults

RailTel's quarterly profit falls 10% despite 20% revenue growth; ₹1 interim dividend declared

The state-owned railway telecom company's revenue rose to ₹1,146 crore on a surge in project work, but an exceptional charge pulled profit down to ₹68.6 crore.

From the editorial desk · New DelhiPublished
Outside Rail Bhawan, the Railway Ministry's headquarters in New Delhi (file photo)
Outside Rail Bhawan, the Railway Ministry's headquarters in New Delhi (file photo)Photo: Likhith N.P / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Key points

  1. RailTel's September-quarter profit fell to ₹68.6 crore from ₹76.1 crore a year earlier.
  2. Revenue from operations rose 20.5% to ₹1,146 crore, led by project work.
  3. The board declared an interim dividend of ₹1 a share, with a record date of 30 October.

RailTel Corporation of India, the state-owned telecom and IT infrastructure company of the railways, reported a 10% fall in quarterly profit on Sunday even as its revenue grew by a fifth, and declared an interim dividend of ₹1 a share.

Profit for the quarter to 30 September came to ₹68.6 crore, down from ₹76.1 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 20.5% to ₹1,146 crore from ₹951.4 crore. The board met on a Sunday to approve the numbers.

An exceptional charge of ₹32.2 crore did much of the damage. Profit before tax fell to ₹92.3 crore from ₹105.3 crore, even though earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 13.9% to ₹176 crore. The operating margin slipped to 15.4% from 16.2%.

Projects outpace telecom

Most of the growth came from project work services, the larger of RailTel’s two segments, which brought in ₹749.2 crore, up from ₹583.8 crore a year ago. Telecom services rose more slowly, to ₹396.9 crore from ₹367.5 crore.

For the first half of the year, RailTel’s total income was ₹2,058.66 crore and its profit ₹134.34 crore.

The dividend

The interim dividend of ₹1 on each ₹10 share has a record date of Friday, 30 October, and will be paid by 20 November. Auditors Lunawat & Co gave an unmodified limited review of the results.

The shares will trade on the numbers for the first time on Monday. RailTel also disclosed on Saturday that it had won a ₹20.04 crore IT infrastructure contract from Munitions India.