Bharti adds 6,489 employees in Q1

Country's largest private sector telecom operator Bharti Airtel added 6,489 employees during the April-June period, taking its total headcount to 24,843 at the end of the first quarter of current fiscal.

As on June 30, 2010, the company had a total of 24,843 employees, against 18,354 staff for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, the company said in its quarterly report.

The cash and cash equivalents of the company stood at Rs 3,108 crore for June 2010, against Rs 710 crore in the same quarter ended June 2009.

The company today has reported a decline of 32 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,682 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, due to the foreign exchange losses.

The April-June quarter of current fiscal witnessed an adverse impact after dollar strengthened against rupee and several African currencies. As a result, derivative and exchange fluctuation loss stood at Rs 216 crore, as against the gain of Rs 279 crore in the same quarter in the previous year.

As on June 30, 2010, the company had an aggregate of over 18.33 crore customers consisting of over 17.69 crore mobile, 31.53 lakh Telemedia and 32.43 lakh Digital TV customers.

Its total customer base as on June 2010 increased by 71.3 per cent, compared to the base as on June 2009.

The company had a net debt of Rs 60,230 crore ($12,925 million) as on June 2010.

As on June 2010, the company had total assets of Rs 1,42,955 crore, and total liabilities of Rs 96,167 crore. The difference of Rs 46,788 crore was on account of equity attributable to equity holders of parent and non-controlling interest.

During the June quarter, the company incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 18,36 crore.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading at Rs 323.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, down 0.25 per cent from the previous close.