Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile phone carrier, today reported a bigger-than-expected 38.17% fall in quarterly profit bringing its consolidated net profit down to Rs 1,027 crore ($210 million), hit by higher interest costs and foreign exchange losses worth Rs 239 crore.
Nearly a third owned by Southeast Asia's biggest phone firm SingTel, Bharti's net last year had stood at Rs 1,661 crore, based on international accounting standards.
This is the seventh straight quarter in which Bharti Airtel has reported a consecutive decline in its net profit.
Bharti Airtel said the roll-out of its 3G network resulted in a higher amortisation cost of Rs 164 crore for the quarter, while its net interest cost rose to Rs 115 crore during the reporting period.
The impact of the recent judicial pronouncement on regulatory matters has been prudently considered in the quarter's financials, it added.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Bharti Airtel's net profit for the second quarter was down 15.49% from Rs 1,215 crore in the June quarter.
Total sales were up by 13.38% at Rs 17,270 crore in Q2 FY12, as against Rs 15,231 crore in Q2FY11.
It has registered the EBITDA margin at 33.7%.
"This year is progressing well for the company. India has achieved double-digit growth, fuelled by non-voice businesses. The arrest of continuously declining prices in India augurs well for the telecom industry," Bharti Airtel CMD Sunil Mittal said.
"We look forward to constructive deliberation on the draft National Telecom Policy, 2011, and Trai recommendations, for prompting the government's broadband vision and viability of the sector," he added.
The telecom major had last year acquired mobile operations in 15 African countries in a $9 billion debt-funded deal.
While its India & South Africa wireless revenue stands at Rs 9,783 crore, its business from Africa has garnered revenues of Rs 4,703 crore. Its overall revenues have gone up 13.4%, lifted by Africa and Non Voice Businesses.
On the African business, Mittal said, "Africa has notched up strong revenue growth of 23%. The company has launched 3G services in Congo B and Airtel Money in Zambia and Kenya."
"We continue to expand our footprint across Africa, with our recent acquisition of 2G and 3G licence in Rwanda," he added.
The monthly ARPU for Airtel's African operations stayed flat at $7.3 during the reporting quarter, while average usage increased to 128 minutes in the quarter ended September 30 from 121 minutes in the June quarter this year.
Bharti currently operates in 19 countries across Asia and Africa and is the world's fifth-biggest mobile phone carrier by subscribers. India is the company's biggest market where it had about 173 million mobile users at the end of September.
