Telecom companies’ revenue to decline for third consecutive year: Report

The Reliance Jio-induced pains for the telecom sector will continue with the industry slated to report decline in revenue for the third consecutive year, a report said Monday.

However, there is room for a “minor recovery” in the upcoming financial year 2019-20, the report by domestic rating agency Icra Ratings said.

The intense competition after the launch of Jio has continued and the pricing pressure manifested in “severe deterioration in the financial performance, marked by decline in revenues, lower profitability (even losses for some telcos) and low cash generation”, it said.

After the 11 per cent decline in revenues in FY18 to Rs 2.1 trillion, the industry topline is expected to further decline by 7 per cent in FY19, the agency said, adding it expects a 6 per cent growth in FY20.