Airtel returns to profit with a bang after six quarters of loss

Telecom oper ator Bhar ti Airtel on Wednesday posted a conso lidated net pr ofit of Rs 854 cr ore in the thir d quarter ended December 2020, mainl y on account of high revenue customers and increase in sub scriber base in India.

The co mpany had r egistered a l oss of Rs 1,035.3 crore in the same period a year ago.

Bharti Air tel reported the highest-ever consolida ted quarterly r evenue of Rs 26,518 crore, up 24.2 per cent from Rs 21,344 cr ore in the corresponding quar ter of 2019-20.

Its India b usiness surg ed 25.1 per cent to Rs 19,007 crore duri ng the Decemb er quarter as against Rs 15,1 94 crore in the year-ago period.

Bharti Air tel had slipped into loss in the second q uarter of 2019-2 0 after making provision of Rs 28,450 cr ore for a djusted g ross r evenue following a Supr eme Cour t order. T he compan y had posted i ts big gest net loss of Rs 23,045 cr ore in the quarter ended September 2019.

"Despite the unpr ecedented v olatility tha t we h ave confronted through the year, we delivered another str ong performance this quar ter.

This consistenc y in performance was acr oss e very part of our po rtfolio, a s reflected in mar ket shar e growth acr oss a ll o ur b usiness se gments," Bhar ti Airtel MD a nd CEO - India and South Asia - Gopal V ittal said in a statement.

Mobile r evenue of the company g rew b y 32.4 per cent year-on-year on account of impr oved r ealisations and str ong customer addition.

Bharti Airtel jumped back to a leadership p osition in terms of new subscriber addition after a g ap of around four years. The mobile average r evenue per user (ARPU) - a k ey metric f or telecom companies - jumped to Rs 166 fr om Rs 135 in Q3 FY20, mainly due to an outcome of its f ocus on acquir - ing quality customers.