Bharti Infratel Q1 net rises 68 per cent

Independent telecom tower company Bharti Infratel has posted a 68 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 358 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2013. The rise came in from increase in tower sharing and one-time gains from merger its subsidiary with Indus towers.

Bharti Infratel, the tower arm of the country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel, had posted a net profit of Rs 213 crore during the same quarter a year ago.

The company's total income rose to Rs 2,622 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 2,416.6 crore recorded during the same period a year ago.

Bharti Infratel's EBITDA improved to Rs 1,055 Crore, up 19 per cent from that a year ago.

''We are pleased that our results demonstrate and reaffirm our robust business model whereby despite relatively low capex deployment by operators in the current quarter, we had significant incremental financial gains from increased sharing of our infrastructure,'' said Akhil Gupta, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Infratel.

''With regulatory environment in telecom showing signs of settling down, focused roll out approach by new operators, faster 3G rollouts by existing operators as a result of strong data growth across the country and some early indications of plans to roll out 4G during the year, we expect deployment and hence infrastructure sharing to pick up in the coming quarters,'' he added.

During the quarter, the company received Delhi High Court order sanctioning the merger of Bharti Infratel Ventures with Indus Towers. The merger became effective on June 11, 2013.