Bharti Q1 net dips 32% at Rs 1,682 cr on forex losses

The country's largest private telecom operator Bharti Airtel today reported a decline of 32 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,682 crore during 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 gain of Rs 279 crore in the same quarter previous year, Bharti Airtel told reporters here.

Total income rose by 17.4 per cent to Rs 12,231 crore during the first quarter of current fiscal, from Rs 10,414 crore in the same period previous quarter.

"The first quarter witnessed the successful completion of acquisition of Zain's mobile operation in 15 African countries. We also won valuable 3G and BWA licenses in India, which will transfer Airtel into a lifestyle enabler. Our business in India and South Asia got of to a solid start with robust revenue growth and healthy margin," Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

The result includes the figures of newly acquired African operations for 23 days of the quarter, effective from June 8,2010, the company said.

The capital expenditures during the quarter was restricted to Rs 1,836 crore due to delays in security clearance for equipment imports.

This is the first time Bharti has announced the quarterly results as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting standards.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) declined to Rs 215 in the first quarter, down 2 per cent from Rs 220 in the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal.

The revenue from India and South Asia mobile business grew by Rs 506 crore over the fourth quarter of last fiscal. Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading at Rs 323.45 on the BSE, down 0.26 per cent from the previous close.

Bharti Airtel expects to complete integration of its African assets, acquired from Zain in June, by the end of 2010, Bharti chief executive for international operations Manoj Kohli told reporters on Wednesday.

Bharti, with about 137 million users in India controls more than 21 per cent of the market of 635 million. It is also present in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, though the operations are tiny compared with India.

The telecom company also has 36.4 million wireless subscribers in Africa after having acquired Zain's African operations in June in a $9 billion deal.