Bharti Airtel posts ₹5,237 crore loss in Jan-Mar quarter
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Ltd posted a loss of ₹5,237 crore in the fiscal-fourth quarter, its fourth successive quarterly loss, as the company had to take a one-time charge of ₹7,004 crore on account of a Supreme Court judgement.
The Delhi-based telecom operator reported a loss in the quarter ended March 31 from a profit of ₹107 crore in the year earlier, despite a 15% rise in its consolidated revenue to ₹23,722 crore, helped by a tariff hike in December.
The company increased tariffs by as much as 40% in December and raised the minimum monthly recharge for prepaid users to ₹45.
Its India mobile revenue grew 22% to ₹12,953 crore as the company benefitted from the recent tariff actions, it said.
The company’s core business posted earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) of ₹26.5 crore, a major silver lining considering that it has been bleeding on an operational basis for a few quarters. Airtel’s monthly average revenue per user (Arpu) from mobile services in India soared to ₹154 from ₹135 in the December quarter. This was sharply higher than its rival Reliance Jio, which had recorded an Arpu of ₹130.6 in the December quarter.
The strong growth in its core business was because of sustained momentum of 4G customer additions of more than 12.5 million coupled with improved tariffs, Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel India and South Asia managing director and chief executive officer, said.