Bharti Airtel Q3 net dips 54% to Rs 503.7 cr on Jio woes

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,108.1 crore in the same period a year ago.

January 24, 2017 07:32 pm | Updated 07:38 pm IST - New Delhi

Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India & South Asia Gopal Vittal. File Photo: Kamal Narang

Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India & South Asia Gopal Vittal. File Photo: Kamal Narang

Telecom major Bharti Airtel has reported over 54 per cent fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 503.7 for the October-December quarter due to “turbulence” from “predatory pricing” of newcomer Reliance Jio.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,108.1 crore in the same period a year ago.

The consolidated income of Bharti Airtel declined by 3 per cent during the reported period to Rs 23,363.9 crore from Rs 24,103.4 crore in corresponding period of 2015-16.

Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India & South Asia Gopal Vittal in a statement has said, “The quarter has seen turbulence due to the continued predatory pricing by a new operator. The present termination costs at 14 paise which are well below cost has resulted in a tsunami of minutes terminating into our network.

“This has led to an unprecedented year—on—year revenue decline for the industry, pressure on margins and a serious impact on the financial health of the sector.”

Jio is offering free 4G services since its launch in September. The free service of Jio will continue till March 31, 2017, as per the last announcement made by Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh D Ambani.

Consolidated mobile data revenues of Airtel for the quarter was flat at Rs 4,049 crore compared to same period in previous fiscal.

Vittal added that at the same time revenue market share of Airtel has crossed a lifetime high of 33 per cent.

Airtel said that its India revenues were up by 1.8 per cent and that of Africa by 6 per cent on Y-o—Y basis.

“India revenues for third quarter (stood) at Rs 18,013 crore grew by 1.8 per cent Y—o—Y. Slowdown in mobile revenue growth (was) primarily due to free voice and data offering by a new operator,” the statement said.

In Africa, Airtel saw impact of devaluation of Nigerian currency on Y—o—Y basis.

Consolidated net debt of Airtel increased by 24 per cent to Rs 97,395.2 crore at the end of December 31, 2016, from Rs 78,451.5 crore in corresponding period a year ago.

“Net interest costs of Rs 1,810 crore have risen from Rs 1,360 crore in the corresponding quarter last year — largely due to increased spectrum related interest costs. Forex and derivative losses for the quarter came in at Rs 126 crore compared to Rs 57 crore in the corresponding quarter last year,” the statement said.

Shares of Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 316.35, down by 0.95 per cent compared to previous close, on BSE today.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.