Bharti Airtel shares close 8% higher after Q2 results
Bharti Airtel shares surge 9.5% after the company posted a drop in earnings for the sixth straight quarter as its consolidated net profit fell 76.5% for the September quarter
After making a positive opening, shares of Bharti Airtel further jumped 9.41% to its 52-week high of Rs544.50 on BSE. Photo: Mint
New Delhi: Shares of Bharti Airtel on Wednesday surged 9.5% even as the company posted a drop in earnings for the sixth straight quarter as its consolidated net profit plunged 76.5% for the September quarter.
After making a positive opening, shares of the company further jumped 9.41% to its 52-week high of Rs544.50 on BSE. At NSE, shares of the company gained 9.49% to touch its one-year peak of Rs544.40. The stock was the biggest gainer among the bluechips on both the key indices during the morning trade.
Bharti Airtel shares closed 8.19% up at Rs538.40 on BSE, while the Sensex rose 1.17% to 33,600.27 points.
India’s largest telecom company Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted sixth straight quarter of drop in earnings as its consolidated net profit plunged 76.5% to Rs343 crore for the September quarter, hit by the price war triggered by newcomer Reliance Jio.
Airtel has warned that financial stress in the industry “continues” and will be “further accentuated” by cut in call connect charges in the next quarter (October-December). The September quarter profit is the lowest since January-March 2013 for Bharti Airtel which like other established telcos has been engaged in a fierce tariff war with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, to wrest control of the market.
The total revenue of Airtel fell 11.7% to Rs21,777 crore during the quarter under review from Rs24,651.50 crore in the year-ago period. The net profit was 6.5% lower compared to Rs367 crore in the June quarter, but a whopping 76.5% down over Rs1,461 crore logged in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
The Africa market fared better with revenue rising 2.8% on an underlying basis, while the operating profit margins improved over 9% year-on-year buoyed by “continuous cost control initiatives”.
