Bharti Infratel Net Profit Surges 68 Per Cent

Telecommunications tower operator Bharti Infratel reported a 68 per cent rise in quarterly profit on higher sales from leasing infrastructure to mobile phone carriers.

 

Bharti Infratel, majority owned by top mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel, said consolidated net profit rose to Rs 358 crore for its fiscal first quarter ended June from Rs 213 crore reported a year earlier. The company was expected to report a net profit of Rs 307 crore, according to the average of three analyst estimates on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

 

Revenue for the quarter rose an annual 9 per cent to Rs 2,622 crore. Four analysts on average expected revenue of Rs 2,744 crore. Bharti Infratel raised $750 million in December in what was India's biggest IPO in two years. The company's stock is down nearly a third from its IPO price.

 

Demand for mobile towers has been hit after several smaller players either exited India or scaled back due to a court order invalidating numerous telecommunications licences, but tower companies are betting on demand from growth in high-speed mobile data services.

 

(Reuters)