The Hindu Business Line : <I>Bharti net profit surges 123 pc in Q3 </I>

Riding on an unprecedented growth in mobile subscriptions, Bharti Airtel Ltd on Tuesday announced an 123 per cent growth in its net profit to Rs 1,215 crore for the third quarter ended December 2006 compared to Rs 545 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year.

The company, which offers the entire gamut of telecom services including broadband, long distance telephony and fixed wireless telephone services, reported a 62-per cent increase in its third quarter revenues to Rs 4,913 crore compared to Rs 3,026 crore as per US GAAP accounting standards. The company said the growth has been on account of a huge surge in the mobile subscriber base with nearly 4.7 million new users added in the third quarter.

Bharti had 31.9 million mobile users at the end of 2006 compared to 16 million at the end of 2005. Its broadband and telephone subscriber base grew from 1.2 million to 1.7 million over the one-year period. Bharti's shares closed at Rs 689 per share, which is a 1.89 per cent increase from Monday's close.

The revenues and net profit for the nine months was Rs 13,126 crore and Rs 2,904 crore, a growth of 59 per cent and 84 per cent respectively, over the same period last year.

Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Ltd, said, "Demand for telecom services continues to be robust across all segments, led by a buoyant economy. Bharti Airtel, with its integrated product portfolio and all India network, has delivered yet another quarter of strong performance and further consolidated its leadership position."

Vodafone abstains

Bharti Airtel welcomed the decision of the Vodafone to abstain from the board meeting, in view of the UK-based telecom major's interest in acquiring rival Hutch-Essar. "Vodafone directors had abstained from the board meeting. It is a responsible company and it shows their high standards," said Gupta.

Vodafone holds 10 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel and is one of the main suitors for Hutch-Essar along Reliance Communications, Hindujas and Malaysian telecom Maxis Telecom.

Hutchison board meet

Meanwhile, Hutchison Telecom International Ltd is holding a board meeting in Hong Kong to discuss the sale of its equity in the Indian mobile company Hutchison Essar. HTIL holds 67 per cent stake in the mobile company.

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