Bharti Infratel, the tower arm of Bharti Group, has reported a 31 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 254 crore in the third quarter ended December 31 compared to Rs 194 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Total revenue is up 8 per cent to Rs 2,626 crore.
The company now owns 81,389 towers across the country with an average sharing factor of 1.92 per tower. The average revenue per tower is Rs 67,136 per month, up 3 per cent compared to last year.
"Despite relatively low capex deployment by telecom operators last year due to uncertainties in the telecom sector, our results reflect the significant incremental gains from increased sharing of our infrastructure. With data growing at a fast pace, we expect increased deployment of new networks by operators in the coming year," Akhil Gupta, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Infratel Ltd, said.
The company's shares were trading down 0.57 per cent at Rs 208.75 at 11.25 a.m. on Thursday on the BSE.