Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea put the brakes on costs in September quarter

While the sector awaits a lifeline, a sharp reduction in capital and opex has aided cash flows

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea saw some improvement in the September quarter, led by a fall in operating and capital expenditures.

Airtel reported a steep 51 per cent dip in consolidated capex over the year-ago quarter. Even on a sequential basis, capex was down by a quarter. The sharp reduction in capex and an increase in operating profit led to a 49 per cent jump in operating free cash flows on a sequential basis.

The savings on the capex front was largely because of India operations where capex is down by over 60 per cent from Rs 7,000 crore a year ago