Bharti Airtel Q1 net falls 9.6 per cent

Bharti Airtel, the country's largest telecom operator by both subscribers and revenues, has posted a 9.6-per cent fall in net profit for the first quarter ended 30 June. The decline, the 14th consecutive quarterly net fall, is on account of higher costs and foreign exchange losses.

For the April-June quarter, the company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs689 crore, down from Rs762 crore recorded during the same period a year ago.

The operator's consolidated revenues rose 9.2 per cent to Rs20,264 crore over the same period of previous financial year. This was led by a 10.9-per cent growth in mobile, 34 per cent in digital TV, 17.9 per cent in airtel business (B2B) and 37.1 per cent in South Asia.

Mobile data continues its growth trajectory with revenue up by 91.5 per cent in India and 65.8 per cent in Africa on a year-on-year basis.

''Our results for the quarter reflect the overall stability of our operations, and demonstrate the potential for growth, particularly seeing robust data growth across all geographies. Results for Airtel India reflect rationality returning to the sector which needs to be complemented by a more enabling regulatory environment for a deeper penetration of telecom and broadband services,'' Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

Mobile revenues in India grew on the back of average revenue per user (ARPU) moving to Rs200 during the quarter, up by Rs16 over corresponding period last year.

Reported international revenues comprising Africa and South Asia operations grew by 4.6 per cent YOY in rupee terms. Mobile termination rates were revised downward in several key countries in Africa, including Nigeria. Net Revenue in Africa, after netting off inter-connect costs and cost of goods sold, has grown by 8.9 per cent.

Consolidated EBITDA (operating profits) at Rs 6,545 crore reports a 19.3 per cent growth YoY with margin expanding to 32.3 per cent from 29.6 per cent in corresponding period last year. India EBITDA margin improved from 31.9 per cent last year to 34.9 per cent, while International margins improved from 24 per cent to 25.4 per cent.

Rupee losses
Derivative and exchange fluctuation losses during the quarter were Rs534 crore, mainly caused by the rupee depreciation, compared with gains of Rs160 crore in the same period last year. Consolidated tax charges at Rs968 crore have increased from Rs454 crore last year, mainly increasing in Africa.

Consequent to the additional equity infusion of Rs6,796 crore by Qatar Foundation Endowment and after considering the full debt in the Qualcomm subsidiaries, the consolidated net debt has decreased by $908 million during the quarter to close at $9,779 million.

The Net Debt to EBITDA ratio (in dollar  terms) now stands at 2.21 as compared with 2.50 at the end of the previous quarter.