Bharti Airtel today reported 25.36% rise in consolidated net profit, as per US GAAP, at Rs 2,159.30 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, when compared with Rs 1,722.40 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.
Total revenue during the period under consideration surged 38% to Rs 9,633.40 crore as against Rs 6,963.90 crore. In contrast, EBIDTA marginally slipped to 41% from 42.6%.
Net profit, however, for the nine-month period, recorded a healthy growth of 29% at Rs 6,230.60 crore for the period ended December 31, 2008 as compared to Rs 4,847.90 crore during the same period last year. The company witnessed 41% rise in revenue at Rs 27,137 crore from Rs 19,205.90 crore.
During the third quarter of the current fiscal, the company’s overall subscriber based increased by 54% to 88.27 million from 57.34 million during the same period last year. Of this, mobile subscribers based rose by 55% to 85.65 million while telemedia services customer base surged by 20% to 2.62 million from 2.18 million. This is the highest quarterly growth in customer base.
“Bharti’s strategy of extensive roll out ahead of competition, especially in new villages has yielded rich dividends. Our launch in Sri Lanka has received a huge response and despite coming in as the fifth operator we hope to be in a leadership position in the coming years”, said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman & managing director, Bharti Airtel.
As per the Indian GAAP, Bharti Airtel today reported 38.35% surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,976.41 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, when compared with Rs 1,428.56 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
According to a release issued by the company to the BSE today, the group's total income increased by 38% to Rs 9,688.50 crore from Rs 7,017.95 crore in Q3FY08.
On a stand-alone basis, Bharti Airtel's Q3 net rose 42% to Rs 2,017.29 crore as against Rs 1,419.84 crore in the same year ago period. Total income was up 32.4% at Rs 8,850.25 crore from Rs 6,682.57 crore.