Solid revenues for Hutch from India

By agencies   |   Thursday, 17 August 2006, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Hutchison Essar reverted to its first- half revenue, mainly through its India operations, even as it is embroiled in a row with its Indian partner, over the merger of BPL (Mumbai) circle. The mobile telephony business has contributed almost 45 percent of its global turnover HK$15,666 million in the first half of 2006.Hutchison has attributed the improvement in its profitability to strong performance in the India and Israel markets. Declaring the results, Hutchison Telecom’s CEO, Dennis Lui maintained that the ties between Hutchison and its associate, Essar remained harmonious. “We are in control of Hutchison Essar since we own 67 percent of the company. So I think we have the ultimate say. I think both our interests are to grow the value of the business,” he stated. Hutchison Essar is Hutchison Telecom’s largest revenue contributor with its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increasing to 47 percent to HK$2,316 million. However, the sustenance of the profitability in the second half relies on the timing of the launch of operations in Indonesia and Vietnam, which are scheduled to happen in the second half of this year.