Airtel profit dips 28 p.c. YoY at Rs 1,215 cr

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Indian telecom services giant Bharti Airtel Limited said on Wednesday that its net profit for the April-June quarter was Rs 1,215 crore, which is 28 per cent down compared to the profit of Rs 1,682 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated total revenues for the reporting quarter was Rs 16,975 crore, which shows a YoY growth of 38.6 per cent.

In Q4 2011, Airtel profit was Rs. 1,400 crore.

In a press release, Airtel said Africa continued its upward trend with revenues of $979 million which shows a growth of 6 per cent over the last quarter revenue of $924 million. India and South Asia sustained double digit revenue growth (YoY 11.9 per cent), while sequential revenue growth was 4 per cent. Revenues from the region stood at Rs 12,631 crore.

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Airtel said the profit dropped mainly on account of higher interest outgo (Rs 344 crore) caused by the Africa acquisition and 3G investments in India, and 3G license fee amortization (Rs 159 crore). It also said the effective tax rate for Q1 increased to 29.9 per cent, mainly due to reduction in tax holiday benefits in India.

In a statement, Bharti Airtel Limited chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said Bharti Airtel has started this fiscal year on a stable note.

“Revenue growth has been steady across all geographies, with Africa recording a healthy sequential growth of approximately 6 per cent, and annual growth of 21 per cent. In India, the Company’s efforts in the area of cost efficiencies have helped arrest the margin decline,” he said.