Bharti Airtel consolidated net rises 60.9 per cent

Aided by a growth in mobile data revenue, Bharti Airtel posted a 60.9 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs1,108 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June compared with a net profit of Rs689 crore.

The company, which is India's largest by subscribers and revenue, posted a 13.3 per cent rise in consolidated revenues at Rs22,962 crore during the reporting quarter. The New Delhi-based company had posted revenues of Rs20,264 crore during the same quarter a year ago, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Airtel's consolidated mobile data revenues rose 73.9 per cent from the year-ago period to Rs2,204 crore, contributing more than one-third of its incremental revenues.

''Our revenue momentum in India has been sustained during the first quarter with a growth of 11.8 per cent. While the pace across all segments has been satisfying, mobile data and DTH stood out with growths of 68.2 per cent and 20.7 per cent, respectively,'' said Bharti Airtel managing director and chief executive officer (India & South Asia) Gopal Vittal.

''The industry awaits more 3G spectrum being made available even as we look forward to the implementation of policies relating to spectrum sharing and trading. These have become essential to deliver sustained broadband growth and high quality service,'' Vittal added.

India South Asia revenues grew 11.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis across segments, led by 9.9 per cent growth in mobile India, 12.9 per cent in Telemedia Services, 20.7 per cent in Digital TV and 14.8 per cent.

Mobile data revenue at Rs1,559 crore registered a growth of 68.2 per cent Y-o-Y in India, uplifted by increase in data customer base and higher usage per customer. Mobile data revenues contribute to 12.4 per cent of mobile India revenues compared with 8.2 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.

African revenues rise
Africa revenues grew by 17.5 per cent in rupee terms and 12.1 per cent in constant currency terms. Data revenues stood at $102 million for the current quarter, contributing 8.8 per cent of overall Africa revenues, compared with 5.3 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.

Data average revenue per user (ARPU) rose $1.50 from $1.23 in same quarter last year, enabled by 36.7 per cent rise in data usage per customer. Active Airtel Money customers have risen by 222 per cent to 4.3 million.

''Telecoms are back to growth in Africa, this time spearheaded by internet and mobile money. Airtel has grown by 12.1 per cent in constant currency terms, with exceptional performance in mobile data (85.5 per cent rise). Airtel Money transaction values have increased by 4.9 times to $2.2 billion in this quarter,'' said Christian de Faria, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Africa.

''With Niger and Chad having obtained licences, we will now have 3G presence in all 17 countries. Our investments in licences, networks and marketing are directed towards sustaining double-digit revenue growth,'' de Faria added.