Bharti shares under pressure for second day; drop 3 p.c.

ROOPNAGAR 16/09/2009 A farmer speaks on his cell phone in the backdrop of a giant billboard of Bharti Airtel in Roopnagar district of Punjab on Tuesday, September 15 2009. Country's top mobile operator Bharti Airtel hopes to conclude a merger deal next month with South Africa's MTN to create a telecoms giant which would create the world’s third largest mobile group based on numbers of subscribers. PHOTO: AKHILESH_KUMAR

Shares of Bharti Airtel slid over 3 per cent in the morning trade, continuing the slide for the second straight day after its USD 10.7 billion offer for Zain Telecom’s African operations.

Bharti Airtel shares dropped to Rs 276.05, down 3.28 per cent, over the previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

On the National Stock Exchange, shares dropped 3.50 per cent to Rs 275.60 within minutes of opening. Over 1.40 crore shares changed hands on the bourses.

The scrip had plunged 9.22 per cent on Monday after Bharti Airtel confirmed it has initiated an exclusive discussion with Kuwait’s Zain Telecom for buying its African operations, a deal which investors feared could strain the telecom major’s financials.

Following Monday’s steep fall, the market valuation of Bharti Airtel came down by about Rs 11,000 crore to Rs 1.08 lakh crore.

Analysts, however, are optimistic that if Zain starts performing, the deal could reap returns to Bharti in the long term.

“African telecom market has scope for penetration. If Bharti is able to implement its low tariff scheme there successfully, the deal could prove to be value accretive,” Angel Broking research head Hitesh Agarwal said.