Bharti Airtel posts 5% drop in Q2 net profit

India's telecom major, Bharti Airtel on Tuesday reported 5% drop in net profit for the quarter ended on September 30. The company posted a net profit of Rs 1460.7 crore for the second quarter of current fiscal as compared to Rs 1536.1 crore during the same period last year, a decline of 4.9% year-on-year basis.

In a regulatory filing, the company said that its total income rose by 3.4% to Rs 24,671.5 crore in Q2FY17 from Rs 23851.9 crore in Q2FY16. 

Consolidated EBITDA at Rs 9,466 crore grew 14.5% Y-o-Y with EBITDA margin expanding by 3.7% to 38.4% with margins improvement in both geographies. The consolidated EBIT of Rs 4,504 crore represents a Y-o-Y growth of 12.3%, despite higher spectrum amortization in India. 

Commenting on the financial results of the company, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said, "Our strong focus on enhancing customer experience and building a robust network has resulted in continued acceleration of revenue market share. Overall Revenue momentum in India has been sustained during Q2 with a growth of 10.1% Y-o-Y. This is primarily due to the strong performance of our non-mobile businesses which grew in aggregate at 18.8% Y-o-Y, albeit our mobile business has experienced a slowdown in growths due to free services being offered by a new operator. But, we remain excited about the long term opportunity in India and believe that with the recently acquired spectrum, we are well positioned to lead India’s data revolution".

In India, mobile data revenues at Rs 3,576 crore grew by 23.6% Y-o-Y, led by increase in the data customer base by 22.8% and traffic by 54.9%. Mobile Broadband customers increased by 62.2% to 41.3 Mn from 25.5 Mn in the corresponding quarter last year, the company said. 

On Tuesday, the shares of the company closed at Rs 311.05 per piece, up 1.48%, or Rs 4.55 on BSE.