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Bharti Airtel, country’s largest mobile operator, today reported nearly three-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,383 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 on the back of higher mobile data revenue.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 512 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal, it said in a statement.
The company’s total revenue rose 7.1 per cent to Rs 22,845 crore for the reported quarter as compared to Rs 21,324 crore in the corresponding period.
“Consolidated mobile data revenues at Rs 2,540 crore grew by 66.7 per cent year-on-year, contributing more than two- thirds of the incremental revenues,” Airtel said in a statement.
Airtel said for India, mobile data revenue registered a growth of 73.8 per cent y-o-y at Rs 1,805 crore, uplifted by increase in data customer base and higher usage per customer. Mobile data revenues now contribute to 14.5 per cent of mobile India revenues.
“We continue to see strong momentum in mobile data which has grown by 74 per cent in this quarter. Airtel’s pioneering 4G roll-out in 15 cities is now witnessing stronger customer acceptance,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (India & South Asia) Gopal Vittal said.
On the regulatory front, he said the recent TRAI recommendations on making more contiguous spectrum available in the upcoming auctions have the potential of transforming the industry.
African growth
Africa revenues grew by 6.4 per cent in local currency terms, but the US dollar appreciation depressed the reported growth to 1.9 per cent Y-o-Y, Airtel said.
Data revenues for Africa stood at $115 million with growth of 56.8 per cent and data revenues now contribute to 10.1 per cent of overall Africa revenues.
“Our robust 3G networks have supported the doubling of data volumes Y-o-Y, and we have been gearing up for much more growth. Airtel money transaction values have also crossed $1 billion a month,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (Africa) Christian de Faria said.
The net debt of the company increased to Rs 62,215.8 crore due to an addition of Rs 6,445 crore of deferred payment liabilities for the 2G spectrum.
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