Indian mobile operator Reliance Jio reported continued strong growth in its fiscal fourth quarter to March, adding a net 26.5 million new customers for a total 186.6 million. That's up from 21.5 million net additions in the previous quarter. The company also claims it's the biggest mobile data provider in the country, with nearly all its customers using mobile internet.
ARPU remained under pressure, in line with industry price competition, dropping 11 percent from the previous quarter to INR 137. Nevertheless, the strong customer growth helped it buck the market trend and grow total revenues 3.6 percent on a quarterly basis to INR 84.0 billion. The EBITDA margin dipped to 37.8 percent from 38.2 percent in Q3, while Reliance noted that this could rise further if revenue growth improves, thanks to its strong operating leverage. Net profit rose slightly, to INR 510 million from INR 504 million in Q3.
Total data traffic increased 17 percent on a quarterly basis, and average data usage per customer reached 9.7 GB versus 9.6 GB in Q3. Jio said voice consumption was also increasing, up by 3 percent from the previous quarter to an average 716 minutes per customer per month. Churn was at 0.25 percent per month.
Jio said it targets 99 percent LTE population coverage by December 2018. It's also reached distribution at over 1 million points throughout India, including a growing number of Reliance Digital stores and Jio Points.
