Indonesia operator Indosat Ooredoo recorded brisk revenue growth in the first quarter of 2020 on the back of ARPU and subscriber gains, but suffered a wider loss due to one-off severance charges.

Net loss more than doubled year-on-year to IDR605.6 billion ($40.4 million). Termination benefits totalled IDR379 billion.

In February the operator announced it reduced its workforce by about 16 per cent as part of a strategy shift designed to cope with a more competitive environment in the mobile sector.

Operating revenue increased 7.9 per cent to IDR6.52 trillion, with mobile turnover growing 10.6 per cent to IDR5.37 trillion. The revenue growth was driven by a 63 per cent jump in data usage, but the company noted its roaming business was impacted from mid-January.

In a statement, the operator said it began 2020 with positive momentum, adding “we are on track with our three-year turnaround plan and hope to see positive momentum continuing in the coming quarters”.

Its mobile user base increased 5.4 per cent to 56.2 million by end March, while blended ARPU rose 11.5 per cent to IDR29,600.

The operator added more than 30,100 4G base stations in the year to end-March, taking its total to about 52,200 sites nationwide. It also increased 3G sites 33 per cent to 51,000.