Bharti Infratel jumps 4% after March quarter results, pares gains later

Shares of Bharti Infratel gained 4 per cent to Rs 172.80 on the BSE on Friday after posting a 6.89 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 649.50 crore for the quarter ended March 31. 

However, the stock failed to hold the gains and declined over 9.6 per cent from intra-day high to as low as Rs 156.90 on the BSE. At 10:30 AM, the stock was down 5.21 per cent at Rs 157.50 against 1.43 per cent decline in S&P BSE Sensex. Around 67 lakh shares have changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE combined so far.

The telecom tower company recorded consolidated revenue of Rs 3,624 crore, up 0.7 per cent YoY, during the quarter under review. It had registered revenue of Rs 3,600 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and ammortisation (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.

The company also 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 again extended the deadline for merger with Indus Towers by two more months to June 24.

Commenting on the results, Akhil Gupta, Chairman, Bharti Infratel, said,"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,”