Airtel quarterly net profit up 2.8% to Rs 1,290 crore

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported 2.8 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 1,290 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015-16. It had reported net profit of Rs 1,255 crore in the January-March period of the 2014-15 fiscal. Airtel said in a statement that its total revenues rose 8.4 per cent to Rs 24,960 crore for the reported quarter as compared to Rs 23,016 crore last year. For the entire 2015-16, the company's net profit stood at Rs 5,484 crore whereas total revenues are to the tune of Rs 96,532 crore.

Its India revenues for the quarter, at Rs 18,328 crore, grew by 11.7 per cent year-on-year, adjusted for the impact in reduction of termination rates.

Mobile data revenues at Rs 3,357 crore grew by 44.5 per cent y-o-y in India, led by increase in the data customer base and traffic. Mobile data revenues now contribute to 23.3 per cent of mobile India revenues vis- -vis 17.6 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Data average revenue per user (ARPU) has moved up by Rs 21 to Rs 196 during the quarter, led by 31.0 per cent increase in usage per customer.

"Solid execution has resulted in an acceleration of revenue market share...y-o-y mobile data growth continues to lead, with traffic and revenues up 69.4 per cent and 44.5 per cent respectively. Voice volumes have also increased 10.8 per cent-the fastest growth in the last 18 quarters," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said.

He added that with the proposed spectrum acquisitions from Videocon & Aircel, the company will be the only pan-India 2G/3G/4G operator and best placed in the industry to strengthen its leadership position. In constant currency terms, Africa revenues adjusted for the impact of divestment of tower assets grew by 5.9 per cent y-o-y, the highest growth in last six quarters. Data revenues now contribute to 15.7 per cent of overall Africa revenues vis- -vis 11.5 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.