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Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday reported a consolidated net loss of ₹1,035 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2019 as against a net profit of ₹86 crore in the corresponding period the previous year.
However, its consolidated revenue rose 8.5 per cent year on year to ₹21,947 crore during the quarter as against ₹20,231 crore in the same period of 2018.
The company’s India revenue also increased 7 per cent YoY to ₹15,797 crore during the quarter in review, compared with ₹14,768 crore in the corresponding period the previous year. But, it reported a net loss of ₹831 crore during the quarter as against a net loss of ₹972 crore in corresponding period of 2018.
“While tariff revision undertaken in December 2019 is a welcome step towards repairing the financial health of the industry, we believe tariffs must go up further for enabling the industry to invest in emerging technologies,” Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel, said.
He said the company added around 21 million 4G customers to its mobile network.
“Data traffic saw strong growth of around 72 per cent YoY. We are on track to shut down our 3G networks across India and re-farm the 900 and 2100 band spectrum to further boost our 4G footprint to serve the surging demand for high speed data,” Vittal added.
Mobile revenues rise
The company said the mobile revenues have witnessed a YoY growth of around 10 per cent, led by a strong focus on quality customers and up-trading; in some parts, the company also benefited from the recent tariff actions, although the full impact is yet to be seen. Consequently, the average revenue per user (ARPU) has improved from ₹128 to ₹135 quarter-on-quarter, it said.
The number of mobile 4G data customers increased 61 per cent to 123.8 million from 77 million in the corresponding quarter the previous year.
As of December 31, the company had a total headcount of 19,233 employees compared with 20,208 people as of December 31, 2018.
Shares of Airtel closed at ₹519.10 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday, up 1.72 per cent from the previous close.
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