Stock in News: Apollo Hospital Enterprise

Apollo’s time to move on with Aircel’s Delhi Operations

It’s time for Delhi to cheer up as the telecom war in this circle is set to intensify. Aircel, which is a joint venture between between Maxis Communications of Malaysia and Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd of India, with Maxis Communications holding a majority stake of 74%, has launched its operation in Delhi.

Aircel will offer a lifetime validity scheme for prepaid mobile customers that allows users to make local calls at Rs one for the first minute, 60 paise for the second minute and 40 paise for the third minute onwards. Aircel has put on offer different tariff plans to cater to various segments of mobile users. Delhi already has six mobile operators -- Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, MTNL, Tatas and Reliance Communication. The entry of Aircel will result in reworking of the rules of the game. These Operators may come up with similar plans in near future to stop erosion in their customer base.

About Aircel

Aircel commenced operations in 1999 and became the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu within 18 months. In December 2003, it launched commercially in Chennai and quickly established itself as a market leader – a position it has held since.

Aircel began its outward expansion in 2005 and met with unprecedented success in the Eastern frontier circles. It emerged a market leader in Assam and in the North Eastern provinces within 18 months of operations. Till today, the company gained a foothold in 14 circles including Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Assam, North East, Orissa, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Kolkata, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi.

The Company has currently gained a momentum in the space of telecom in India post the allocation of additional spectrum by the Department of Telecom, Govt. of India for 13 new circles across India. These include Delhi (Metro), Mumbai (Metro), Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Goa, Rajasthan, Punjab, UP (West) and UP (East).

Aircel, which sponsors Indian Premier League team Chennai Superkings and has M S Dhoni as its brand ambassador, is India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with 17 million users and Delhi is the 14th circle for the company. The company plans to expand coverage to 18 of India's 22 telecom zones in the next few days and coverage will extended to the rest of the country over the next 24 months. The company also plans to list itself on Indian bourses once the economy picks up.

Apollo Hospitals stock posts modest gains

The company holds 26% stake in Aircel. The stock remained insensitive to the launch of Aircel’s Delhi Operations which is considered as a lucrative market for this sector. The stock gained Rs. 5.75 and closed at 371.9 against yesterday’s closing of 366.15. The stock has a Book Value of Rs. 203 Per share and currently trades at a PE of 20. The stock has fallen 25% in last 1 year and 15% in last 3 Months. The Health care sector is considered to be less affected by Recession and hence the fall in this sector is generally much lesser than overall market.

More Info on Aircel

Aircel’s Prepaid tariff plans in Delhi