Bharti Airtel’s profits jump, boosted by rise in subscribers
Saturday, 7 February 2015 00:00
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Reuters: India’s Bharti Airtel has posted a better than expected quarterly profit, as India’s biggest telecoms network operator by users and revenue added more subscribers, boosting data and voice call traffic.
The company, which operates in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, reported on Wednesday that it made a net profit of Rs. 14.37 billion ($ 232 million) in the final three months of 2014, its financial third quarter, more than double the Rs. 6.12 billion it made in the same period of 2013.
Analysts on average were expecting Bharti to post a profit of Rs. 13.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Top Indian mobile phone operators have been able in the past two years to increase voice call prices, their main revenue generator, as smaller rivals have gone out of business, making it easier for them to get new customers.
Airtel added 1.76 million customers in December alone, second only to Idea, which added 2.58 million.
Furthermore, a growing use of smartphones has boosted data traffic.
Last week rival Idea Cellular Ltd. posted a 64% rise in quarterly profit.
On Wednesday Bharti Airtel said third-quarter net sales came in at Rs. 232.17 billion, up from the Rs. 219.39 billion in the same period of 2013.
Of that total, mobile data revenues were up 62% at Rs. 28.72 billion, with the rise in India 74.3%.
