Bharti Infratel Q1, profit dips 4% to Rs 638 cr

Mobile tower company Bharti Infratel today reported 4 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 638 crore for the first quarter of current fiscal on account of consolidation in the telecom sector.

The company had posted net profit of Rs 664 crore in the April-June quarter of last fiscal, 2017-18.

With the consolidation phase largely over, the Indian Telecom industry is now witnessing an integration phase as operators consolidate their networks and spectrum before the next phase of rollouts," Bharti Infratel Chairman Akhil Gupta said in a statement.

The consolidated revenues of the company, however, increased by 4 per cent to Rs 3,674 crore (including proportionate share from Indus Towers) during the first quarter of 2018-19, as against Rs 3,524 crore in the year-ago period. The company holds 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers.

"We remain confident of the long-term growth potential of the Indian telecom sector driven by rising user demand, availability of cheaper handsets, introduction of new technologies and availability of rich content to the customers. This would necessitate rapid network rollouts," Gupta said.

"With our nationwide coverage, operational excellence and strong financial position, we believe we will continue to be the partner of choice for all operators for their passive infrastructure requirements, he said.

Bharti Infratel's revenue share from Indus Towers increased by 2.38 per cent to Rs 1977.6 crore from Rs 1,931.6 crore.

The company's stock closed 0.33 per cent up at Rs 287.3 on BSE.