Bharti Airtel drops 4% as Jio halves profit

India's largest private sector telecom company Bharti Airtel's shares dropped 3.87% on BSE Sensex during pre-opening trade on Wednesday. The shares were trading at Rs 304.10 per share, down Rs 12.25 after the company announced a 55% drop in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. 

On Tuesday, Airtel said that its net profit for the given quarter stood at Rs 504 crore as against Rs 1,108 crore for the same period of last year and Rs 1,460.7 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2016. 

Airtel said that its consolidated EBIDTA or pure earnings rose 1.11%, at Rs 8,570 crore while EBIDTA margins grew 1.5%, at 36.7% on the back of its African operations. Consolidated revenues for the given quarter dropped 3%, at Rs 23,336 crore. 

Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said: “The quarter has seen turbulence due to the continued predatory pricing by a new operator."

He said, "The present termination costs at 14 paise which are well below cost has resulted in a tsunami of minutes terminating into our network. This has led to an unprecedented year on year revenue decline for the industry, pressure on margins and a serious impact on the financial health of the sector."

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