Bharti Infratel consolidated Q3 profit up 23% at Rs 507 cr

Telecom sector gets a boost with surging demand for data across the country

Bharti Airtel's tower unit Bharti Infratel has posted a 23% jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 507 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.

It had reported a net profit of Rs 411 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.

The consolidated revenues of tower firm grew 8% to Rs 2,949 crore for the December quarter against Rs 2,731 crore for the same period last year.

"Telecom sector in India is witnessing a rapidly growing demand for data and high speed internet access. The operators have already invested significant amount for data spectrum and are likely to increase it further in forthcoming auctions," Bharti Infratel Chairman Akhil Gupta said in a statement.

Encouraged by surging demand for data across the country and to monetise this significant investment, the operators have already stepped up the rollout of the data networks, he added.

"We expect this to further accelerate in the ensuing years," he said.

The total tower base of the company stood at 85,064 as on December 31, 2014 along with 4,478 co-locations, while the average sharing factor increased to 2.08 from 1.96 in the same period last year.

The company's consolidated operating free cash flow for the quarter was at Rs 673 crore, a decline of five% over the corresponding period last year.