Bharti Airtel Q3 net declines 39% to Rs 3.06 bn; ARPU down 15% at Rs 123

Revenue for the quarter declined 13% to Rs 203.18 bn

India's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel today reported over 39 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2017 to about Rs 3.06 billion (Rs 306 crore).

The company's net profit stood at Rs 5.04 billion (Rs 504 crore) in the same period previous fiscal.

The company, which competes with the operators like Vodafone, Idea Cellular and newcomer Reliance Jio in the highly-competitive telecom market in India - saw its overall revenue declined 13 per cent to Rs 203.19 billion (Rs 20,319 crore).

Its revenue was pegged at Rs 233.36 billion (Rs 23,336 crore) in the corresponding period last financial year.

"Regulatory fiat in the form of a cut in domestic IUC (Interconnection Usage Charges) rates have exacerbated the industry ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) decline in Q318," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

He added that the recent decision to reduce International termination rates "will further accentuate this decline and benefit foreign operators with no commensurate benefit to customers".

The company's overall customer stood at 394.2 million across 16 countries, which was 9.2 per cent higher over the year-ago period.

"India revenues for Q318 at Rs 152.94 billion (Rs 15,294 crore) have declined by 11.3 per cent year on year (15.1% on reported) on an underlying basis, adjusted for the impact in reduction of domestic termination rates," the company statement said.

On the other hand, its Africa revenues were up 5.3 per cent over the same quarter previous fiscal (in constant currency terms).

The companys consolidated net debt rose to Rs 917.14 billion (Rs 91,714 crore) as against Rs 914.8 billion (Rs 91,480 crore) in the previous quarter.

"The company's Board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.84 per share, which is a complete pass through of dividend received from subsidiaries," the statement added.

The results were declared after market hours.

Bharti scrip closed 1.17 per cent lower at Rs 494.50 a piece on the BSE today.