Bharti Airtel surges 10%; enters club of top five most valued firms
After hitting an intra-day high of ₹591.95, at 10:12 am, the scrip was trading 9% higher at ₹586.25 apiece on the BSE, lead by which company’s market capitalization touched ₹3.19 trillion
Bharti Airtel Ltd on Tuesday joined the club of top five most valued companies, replacing Infosys Ltd and HDFC Ltd, after its shares surged 10%.
After hitting an intra-day high of ₹591.95, at 10:12 am, the scrip was trading 9% higher at ₹586.25 apiece on the BSE, lead by which company’s market capitalization touched ₹3.19 trillion.
HDFC Ltd was trading 2.4% higher with a market cap of ₹2.70 trillion while Infosys Ltd gained 1% to touch ₹2.85 trillion market cap. Reliance Industries Ltd remained India's top most valued company with market value of ₹9.3 trillion followed by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd at ₹7.30 trillion, Hindustan Unilever Ltd at ₹4.71 trillion and HDFC Bank Ltd at ₹4.6 trillion.
While the telecom operator posted consolidated loss of ₹5,237 crore for Q4FY20, mainly on account of making provision for paying statutory dues, it reported strong average revenue per users (ARPU) after the recent tariff hike and healthy 4G subscriber additions. The company had increased tariffs by as much as 40% in December 2019.
Airtel’s monthly ARPU from mobile services in India soared to ₹154 from ₹135 in the December quarter. This was sharply higher than its rival Reliance Jio, which had recorded an ARPU of ₹130.6 in the December quarter.
“Subscriber adds were flat quarter on quarter at 284 million, but 4G subs grew 10% quarter on quarter to 136 million with 12.5 million fresh adds, garnering healthy >40% estimate incremental market share," Motilal Oswal said.
CLSA has maintained buy ratings on the stock with a target price of ₹670. "The company's earnings were positive surprise with its Indian operation led by mobile, posted strong revenue growth. Its continued Indian mobile revenue growth was led by jump in average revenue per user and the growth of its data subscribers was encouraging too", the brokerage said in a note.
Airtel’s core business posted earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) of ₹26.5 crore, a major silver lining considering that it has been bleeding on an operational basis for a few quarters.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!