The entry of Reliance Jio is still affecting the country’s largest telecom player Bharti Airtel, with the company reporting a 73 per cent drop in its net profit to ₹97 crore for the first-quarter ended June 30.
This is the ninth straight quarter that the company has reported decline in its net profit. Bharti Airtel had reported a consolidated net profit of ₹367 crore in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenue for the period also declined by 9 per cent to ₹20,080 crore from ₹21,958 crore in corresponding period last year. The India revenues during April-June quarter declined by 7 per cent on year-on-year basis to ₹14,930 crore, the company said.
The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company, however, said that there are opportunities ahead.
“Our investments have led to some opex headwinds in this quarter but we remain focussed on structural cost containment through our ‘War on Waste’ programme. With consolidation largely done, the secular opportunity of the Indian telecom market continues to excite us and we remain committed to offer best-in-class services to all consumers,” Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, India and South-Asia, said. The company spent ₹7,887 crore during the quarter. “Aggressively expanding our 4G capacities and offering high data speed to customers remains a key priority for us, and towards this end, first quarter of 2019 has seen our highest quarterly capex spends of ₹7,887 crore,” he said.
The company has also completed the acquisition of Telenor India during the quarter.
“The acquisition of Telenor’s India unit was completed during the quarter, and I am delighted to welcome all the Telenor customers into the Airtel family,” Vittal added.
The overall customer base stands at 457 million across 16 countries, up 21 per cent year-on-year excluding divested units, as of June 30, the company added.