Bharti Airtel profits fall eleventh straight quarter
07 Nov 2012
Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator by subscriber numbers, profits fell for the eleventh straight quarter, weighed down by higher tax and interest costs.
In the second quarter ended September, the telecom operator's net profit fell 29.7 per cent to Rs721.2 crore from Rs1,027 crore posted during the same period of last fiscal, Bharti Airtel said in a stock exchange notice.
This was despite a one-time gain of Rs239 crore that was awarded following a over interconnect charges. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had ruled in favour of the company with respect to an outstanding dispute pertaining to interconnect agreements.
This contributed revenues of Rs586.1 crore, profit before tax of Rs344.8 crore and profit after tax of Rs238.6 crore for the quarter, the company said.
The company's total revenues rose 17.14 per cent to Rs20,283 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs17,276.4 crore posted during the same period of previous financial year.
Analysts on an average had expected the company to earn a net profit of Rs831 crore on revenues of Rs 19,512 crore for the quarter.
