New Delhi, May 2: Bharti Airtel Ltd reported a 50 per cent fall in quarterly profit that capped the third straight year of declining profit at country's top telecommunications carrier.
Bharti Airtel, the world's fourth-biggest cellular carrier by customers, said net profit fell to Rs 509 crore ($94 million) for its fiscal fourth quarter to end-March, from Rs 1006 crore reported a year earlier.
Analysts had expected the company to report net profit of Rs 741 crore, according to media estimates.
The company's revenues were in line with estimates at Rs 20,488 crore, up 1.23 per cent, as compared to Rs 20,239 crore a quarter ago. The company said net income was cut by higher net interest costs and a tax charge.
Bharti Airtel's EBIDTA stood at Rs 6,494.7 crore, up 5 per cent, against Rs 6,193.13 crore, quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q). EBIDTA margins were at 31.7 per cent against 30.6 per cent q-o-q and above ET Now poll estimate of 30.8 per cent.
The company reported a forex loss at Rs 203 crore during March quarter against a loss of Rs 250 crore in previous quarter.
Q4 ARPU stood at Rs 193. Revenues from Africa market was at Rs 6,065 crore against Rs 6,169.4 crore, Q-o-Q. Africa EBIDTA margin stood at 25.4 per cent vs 26.55 per cent.
"Really disappointed from Bharti Airtel's results. It is much below expectations," said Bhavesh Gandhi, sector analyst, IIFL.
"We would be buyers in the stock at current levels and see over 10 per cent upside. We would recommend investors to incrementally 'add' Bharti in portfolio," he added.
At 09:30 am; the stock was at Rs 307.50, down 3.53 per cent, on the BSE. It touched a high of Rs 312 and a low of Rs 305.25 in early trade today.
Still, established companies such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular have signed up the bulk of new subscribers in recent months as several smaller rivals have either closed or scaled back operations after a court order revoking their permits.
That emerging trend is likely to embolden the big operators to raise voice call prices and further cut discounts in a market that has not seen any meaningful price increases since a bruising price war in 2009.
Commenting on the results Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said: "I am pleased to see that market corrections have started with improvements in the quality of customer acquisitions, and that pricing stability is returning to the sector in India. With Africa over its peak of organic investments we are optimistic about the potential for improved market shares and margin expansions, finally, on the data front, we are now witnessing consistent quarter on quarter growth across all geographies."
Bharti also said it agreed to buy the remaining 30 percent stake in its Bangladeshi unit from Warid Group for an undisclosed amount.
Vodafone for the first time has overtaken Bharti Airtel to become India's leading mobile phone company in rural India, according to the latest rural subscriber numbers collated by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the industry body representing GSM operators.
The Indian arm of Vodafone, which recently tweaked its distribution model to boost sales in the villages, now has the biggest rural customer base at 82.24 million, a shade above Bharti Airtel, whose total rural customer base is for the first time a tad lower at 82.16 million.
Bharti Airtel, however, remains India's leading mobile phone company by revenue and customers. According to the latest COAI data, its total customer base as on March 31, 2013, stood at 188.20 million, translating in a 28.47% market share. Vodafone India's total customer base as on March 31, 2013 stood at 152.35 million, resulting in a 23.05% market share. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone's pan-India subscriber base grew by 0.84% and 1.65% respectively in March.
GSM operators collectively added 5.35 million customers in March and the pan-India GSM customer base on April 1 stood at 660.94 million.
