Bharti Airtel reports Rs2,517 crore Q1 net profit; says talks with MTN on

Bharti Airtel, the country's largest GSM mobile phone operator, today reported first quarter 2009-10 (April-June) net profit of Rs2,517 crore, a 24 per cent rise year-on-year, helped by growth in rural customer base and forex gains.

Bharti also said it is still in exclusive talks with South Africa's MTN over a merger deal, which could culminate in a deal to form a telecom giant with revenues of $20 billion.

"Talks are going on between Bharti Enterprises, the parent of Bharti Airtel, and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. to form a global business combination," Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and MD of Bharti Enterprises, said.

Bharti Airtels saw its consolidated revenue for the April-June quarter grow 17.2 per cent to Rs9,942 crore as per US accounting standards. A drop in mobile termination charges, however, affected the company's revenue growth.

Average revenue per user fell 20.6 per cent to Rs278 in April-June from a year ago and the minutes of usage also fell 11 per cent to 478 minutes. Its margin improved to 42 per cent on higher profitability while EBITDA surged 18 per cent to Rs4,152 crore.

On the other hand, a foreign exchange gain of Rs250 crore in the quarter, compared to a loss of Rs168 crore a year ago, helped boost the company's profit.

Bharti added a record 8.55 million customers, on a net basis. About 60 per cent of the new users come from the rural areas and the company expects this to increase to 75 per cent, Bharti Airtel CEO and joint MD Manoj Kohli said.