Shares of the country's largest telecom player, Bharti Airtel, jumped as much as 4.8 per cent to the highest since December 2007 as quarterly profit beat estimates and at least two brokerages have raised target price on the stock.

The company had on Tuesday reported a 76 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at ₹343 crore for the second quarter against ₹1,461 crore in the year-ago period.

It said mobile market continues to experience value erosion and financial stress led by “competitive pressures”. However, mobile data traffic grew four-fold in the quarter to 784 billion MBs, against (178 billion MBs) in the year-ago quarter. Mobile broadband customers rose 34 per cent to 55.2 million (41.3 million).

Reuters reports

The second-quarter net profit ws the smallest profit in 19 quarters but above the average estimate of Rs 303 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Bharti Airtel said that the company was approached by global investors interested in a controlling stake in mobile masts unit Bharti Infratel Ltd.

Credit Suisse analysts have raise the stock target price to Rs 430 from Rs 400, saying the company's ability to “maintain margins in India mobile in a seasonally weak quarter with 5 per cent revenue decline is commendable".

CLSA has upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'underperform', and has raised the target price to Rs 637 from Rs 430. It says consolidation in India and Africa turnaround is “reviving Bharti's long-term growth".

Seventeen of 32 brokerages have rated the stock “buy” or higher, seven “hold” and eight “sell” or lower; their median target price is Rs 467.50, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data.

Shares of Bharti Airtel gained on Monday's trade as Bharti Telecom is set to buy up to 4.62 per cent of Bharti Airtel's stake.

Bharti Telecom Ltd, the holding company of Bharti Airtel Ltd, will acquire up to 4.62 per cent stake in India’s largest telco, the company informed the National Stock Exchange on Monday.

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