RCom's capex to decline: Anil Ambani

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, Reliance Communications, said on Tuesday its capex would decline significantly starting this year and continue on a downward trend in the future.

"We expect our capex to decline significantly starting this year and continue on a downward trend in the future, particularly in relation to the scale of our expanding operations," Reliance Communications' chairman, Anil Ambani, told shareholders at its annual general meeting in Mumbai.

Over the last two-years, the company had committed substantial investments in its business, rolling out the largest network expansion of its kind in the world in a record time, he said.

"Our capex intensity peaked over FY 08-09 -- that scale of mega-expenditure is now behind us," Ambani said.

"We have also more than doubled our asset base to over 1,02,000-crore (Rs 1,020 billion) in this period," Ambani said, adding 'through this expansion process, we have maintained the stability of our margins.'

In 2009, Reliance Communications' net worth exceeded Rs 37,000 crore (Rs 370 billion) making it one of the top three companies in India, he said.

Despite a substantial capex commitment of about Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) in just two-years, "our balance-sheet remains strong and we maintain a conservative debt-equity ratio of 0.53," he said.

Currently, the Anil Ambani-run company's subscriber base stands at 85 million, placing it among the top five companies globally in terms of subscribers in a single country, he said.

"We look forward to acquiring our 100 millionth subscriber by the close of this financial year," he said.

Image: Anil Ambani