Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Apr 29, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Apr 29, 2006 |
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Corporate Results - Telecommunications Info-Tech - Financial Performance Bharti Airtel net up 49 pc on user growth Our Bureau
MR SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL (left), Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, with Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal, Joint Managing Director, at a press conference in the Capital on Friday. — Kamal Narang
New Delhi , April 28 Riding on a 78 per cent increase in its cellular subscriber base, Bharti Airtel on Friday reported a 49 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 682 crore during the fourth quarter of 2005-06 against Rs 459 crore during the corresponding period last year. With a market capitalisation of Rs 76,000 crore, Bharti, in which Singapore Telecom owns 30.84 per cent, registered a 47 per cent rise in its total revenue to Rs 3,411 crore against Rs 2,326 crore during the fourth quarter last year.
User base surges
For the full year 2005-06, Airtel has reported a 51 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 2,258 crore, while its revenue grew 46 per cent over the previous year to Rs 11,663 crore. Bharti's total subscriber base, including fixed line and broadband, surged from 1.18 crore to 2.09 crore during the year, of which 19.6 million are mobile users.
Outlook stays positive
Commenting on the results, Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, said, "Bharti has delivered a strong performance which reflect the success story of the Indian telecom sector. The outlook for the industry remains positive and the year ahead promises to be exciting one for Bharti. With integrated organisation structure in place, the company is confident of making rapid strides in fulfilling the vision of making Airtel the most admired brand by 2010." Bharti's shares were trading at Rs 405 on the BSE, which is 0.66 per cent higher than its yesterday's closing price.
Market leader
Bharti claimed that its year-on-year income growth in terms of percentage was the highest for the year 2005-06 when compared with other listed companies in the ICE (information, communication and entertainment) sectors, while profits were the second highest after TCS. The company has a debt of Rs 4,147 crore. It is the market leader in the mobile telephony segment with 21 per cent share across 23 circles in India. While the average revenue per user (ARPU) for Bharti has dipped from Rs 505 in March 2005 to Rs 442 in March 2006, the total minutes of usage has increased steeply from 11,575 million minutes to 23,187 million minutes.
Penetration level
Airtel also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 15 circles and has over one million subscribers. The company said that with a penetration level of just 27 per cent, the market offered opportunity to grow exponentially. It is planning to invest $2 billion in the current fiscal as capital expenditure to support its expansion in the country. Bharti Airtel Chief Financial Officer, Mr Akhil Gupta, said that since the company has Rs 1,205 crore cash profit, a large part of the investment will be met out of internal cash generation.
Related Stories: More Stories on : Financial Performance | Telecommunications | Financial Performance | Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
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