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Bharti Airtel Q2 net profit zooms 170 per cent [India Business] [Times of India]
[October 31, 2014]

Bharti Airtel Q2 net profit zooms 170 per cent [India Business] [Times of India]


(Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW DELHI: Higher data revenue powered the second quarter profits for Bharti Airtel, the country's largest mobile operator, which grew close to three-fold at Rs 1,383 crore against Rs 512 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal. This was the fourth straight quarter of profit growth for the company which had reported its first profit growth in four years in the December quarter of 2013. Total revenues for Bharti Airtel rose 7% in the period at Rs 22,845 crore as compared to Rs 21,324 crore in the corresponding period. "Consolidated mobile data revenues at Rs 2,540 crore grew by 67% year-on-year, contributing more than two-thirds of the incremental revenues," Airtel said. Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer, India and South Asia. (TOI photo) Bharti said for India, mobile data revenue registered a growth of 74% (y-o-y) at Rs 1,805 crore, helped by increase in data customer base and higher usage per customer. Mobile data revenues now contribute to 14.5% of mobile India revenues. "We continue to see strong momentum in mobile data which has grown by 74% in this quarter. Airtel's pioneering 4G roll-out in 15 cities is now witnessing stronger customer acceptance," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (India & South Asia) Gopal Vittal said. Africa revenues grew by 6% in local currency terms, but the dollar appreciation depressed the reported growth to 1.9 per cent Y-o-Y, Airtel said. Africa, however, is yet to turn profitable for the company. Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) fell 2% sequentially to Rs 198 for Bharti's Indian business and was 3% down for the African operations. Mobile voice realisation and minutes of usage per customer in India also fell from the previous quarter. The net debt of the company increased to Rs 62,216 crore due to an addition of Rs 6,445 crore of deferred payment liabilities for the 2G spectrum.



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