Thaindian News

Mumbai, Aug 3 (IANS) Telecom major Bharti Airtel Wednesday reported a 25.8 percent fall in its net profit at Rs.1,432.3 crore for the quarter ended June 30, according to Indian accounting standards.

The company posted a net profit of Rs.1,930.9 crore in the previous corresponding period.

Net sales of the company, however, rose to Rs.10,180 crore during the period under review, up from Rs.9,323.7 crore it logged in the April-June quarter of 2010, according to a regulatory filing by the firm.

Reacting to the news, the company’s stocks at the Bombay Stock Exchange fell over 4.3 percent to an intra-day low of Rs.413.10.

On a consolidated level, according to international accounting standards, Bharti Airtel’s net profits (including those from operations in Africa and South Asia), fell 27.7 percent to Rs.1,215.2 crore during the April-June quarter.

Consolidated net revenues of Bharti, in which Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, SingTel holds more than a third of equity, however, grew 38.6 percent to Rs.16,975 crore.

Income before taxes, on a consolidated basis, also came in lower at Rs.1,719 crore.

“On year-on-year basis, income before taxes 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),” the company said in a statement.

“Effective tax rate for Q1 increased to 29.9 percent, mainly due to reduction in tax holiday benefits in India. Consequently, net income for the quarter came in at Rs.1,215 crore,” it added.

For the quarter, overall customer base rose 26 percent to 230.8 million, across 19 countries where it has its operations.

“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 percent, and annual growth of 21 percent,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of Bharti Airtel Limited.