Airtel Q2 profit tanks 65.4% to Rs 119 crore

Total revenue came in at Rs 20,422 crore for the September quarter, which was 6.2 per cent lower than Rs 21,777 crore notched in the year-ago period.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a 65.4 per cent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 119 crore for the second quarter ended September 2018.

Its net profit stood at Rs 343 crore in the same period of the previous year, according to a company statement.

Total revenue came in at Rs 20,422 crore for the September quarter, which was 6.2 per cent lower than Rs 21,777 crore notched in the year-ago period.

Its India revenues fell 3.6 per cent year-on-year while the Africa revenues rose 10.8 per cent.

"India revenues for Q2'19 at Rs 14,920 crore have declined by 3.6 per cent year on year (declined 10.9 per cent on reported basis) on an underlying basis.

“Mobile revenues have witnessed a year on year de-growth of 7.2 per cent on an underlying basis led by continued average revenue per user down-trading impacted by competitive pricing pressures," the statement said.

Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel, said the average revenue per user (ARPU) decline has "moderated" this quarter driven by focus on quality customers through simplified pricing and content partnerships.

"We remain focused on driving quality base growth with value adding propositions for our customers. We also remain committed to investing in enhanced capacities and have deployed 27000+ broadband sites during the quarter, enabling a 239 per cent YoY growth in mobile data volumes," Vittal added.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters