Bharti Airtel Q1 net profit down 10% at Rs 689 cr

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported a 9.6 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 688.9 crore (Rs 6.88 billion) for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 762.2 crore in the corresponding period last financial year. This is a 14th consecutive fall in quarterly profits of the company.

Total income of the company, however, was up 9.3 per cent at Rs 20,299.5 crore (Rs 202.99 billion) for the reported quarter as against Rs 18,570.3 crore (Rs 185.70 billion) in the same period last fiscal.

"Our results for the quarter reflect the overall stability of our operations, and demonstrate the potential for growth, particularly seeing robust data growth across all geographies," company's chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in a statement.

The company's mobile revenues in the country grew on the back of jump in ARPU (average revenue per user) to Rs 200 in Q1 of 2014, up by Rs 16 over corresponding period last year.

"Results for Airtel India reflect rationality returning to the sector which needs to be complemented by a more enabling regulatory environment for a deeper penetration of telecom and broadband services," Mittal added.

Derivative and exchange fluctuation losses during the quarter stood at Rs 534 crore (Rs 5.34 billion), mainly caused by rupee depreciation, compared to gains of Rs 160 crore (Rs 1.6 billion) in the same period last year.

The net debt of the company has been reduced to Rs 58,380.6 crore (Rs 583.80 billion) as on June 30, 2013 on account of additional equity infusion of Rs 6,796 crore (Rs 67.96 billion) by Qatar Foundation Endowment.

Shares of the company were trading up 0.86 per cent at Rs 324.20 apiece at 0955 hrs on the BSE.