Bharti Infratel's Q4 consolidated net profit rises 6.89% to Rs 649.50 cr

Bharti Infratel on Thursday posted a 6.89 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 649.50 crore for the quarter ended March 31. It had reported a net profit of Rs 607.60 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
 

The company had reported a profit of Rs 608 crore in the same period a year ago. The telecom tower company recorded consolidated revenue of Rs 3,624 crore during the quarter. It had registered revenue of Rs 3,600 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.
 

Consolidated revenue of the company increased 0.7 per cent YoY to Rs 3,624 crore during the quarter under review.
 

“After a few tumultuous years, the Indian telecom industry took much needed constructive measures in the year gone by in the form of tariff increases. This along with encouraging trends on overall wireless data consumption has led to enhanced focus on improving the quality of networks," Akhil Gupta, Chairman, Bharti Infratel, said.

EBITDA increased 23 per cent YoY to Rs 7,442 crore, while operating free cash flow grew 2 per cent to Rs 4,315 crore.
 

The company also declared the third interim dividend of Rs 4.10 per equity share. This along with the two interim dividends of Rs 3.65 and Rs 2.75 would result in total dividend of Rs 10.5 per equity share for FY20.
 

“During the year both Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers witnessed an increase in gross additions both on towers and co-locations on a year-on-year basis. We believe this is a harbinger of the future especially as witnessed in the current environment of the Covid-19 crisis, where the nation’s dependence on wireless networks has been further elevated,” Gupta said.
 

The company said it adopted a new accounting system from April 1, 2019 and hence the result for 2019-20 is not comparable with past periods.
 

Bharti Infratel also extended the deadline for merger with Indus Towers by two more months by June 24.