9.6 % drop in Q1 net of Bharti Airtel

July 31, 2013 10:18 am | Updated June 09, 2016 06:10 pm IST - New Delhi

NEW DELHI:  BHARTI AIRTEL LTD. PTI GRAPHICS(PTI7_31_2013_000016B)

NEW DELHI: BHARTI AIRTEL LTD. PTI GRAPHICS(PTI7_31_2013_000016B)

Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday, posted a 9.6 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs. 689 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013, mainly due to the depreciating rupee and higher taxes. The company had reported a net profit of Rs. 762 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year.

“Derivative and exchange fluctuation losses during the quarter were Rs. 534 crore, mainly caused by the rupee depreciation, compared to gains of Rs. 160 crore in the same period last year,” the telecom operator said, adding that the consolidated tax charges, at Rs. 968 crore, have also increased from Rs. 454 crore last year, mainly increasing in Africa. The company's revenues increased 9.2 per cent to Rs. 20,264 crore in the quarter under review , from Rs.18,560 crore a year earlier.

The company said that an increase in pricing power, due to reduced competition, helped it arrest the decline in profits. Some operators, including Airtel, have cut back on discounts offered to customers after a few stopped services on failing to win spectrum.

“For the first time we have really some good element of pricing power, diminishing of waste and leakages coming back into the marketplace,” Bharti's Group Chief Financial Officer Sarvjit Singh Dhillon said.

The company said its consolidated net debt decreased by $908 million during the quarter and stood at $9,779 million as a result of “additional equity infusion of Rs. 6,796 crore by Qatar Foundation Endowment and after considering the full debt in the Qualcomm subsidiaries”

Globally, Airtel's customer base increased 5.4 per cent to 27.4 crore, dominated by mobile users, compared with 26 crore a year earlier.

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.