Despite India’s biggest mobile operator Bharti Airtel reporting a 30.5 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at ₹1,255 crore, shares of the company fell close to 4 per cent on the bourses on Wednesday.

Analysts believe the sell-off was driven by profit-booking on the stock, which closed down ₹15.45 at ₹385.30 on the NSE. Over 60 per cent of the shares traded on the exchange were presented for delivery. On the BSE, where it closed at ₹387.50, Airtel’s trading volumes jumped 1.13 times its two-week daily traded average.

For the last quarter of FY15, growth in Airtel was reflected in its rise in average revenue per user (which was up by ₹43), a wider customer base and higher data revenue.

A report by brokerage house Motilal Oswal maintained a ‘buy’ call on the Airtel stock. “While the India’s mobile Ebitda performance continued to remain strong, growth at the consolidated level was dragged down by sharp declines in Africa. Revenue grew 3.6 per cent year-on-year but declined 0.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter.”

Africa biz returns poor

Pointing to a sharp decline in the company’s Africa performance, the brokerage house said: “Africa Ebitda declined 14 per cent q-o-q to $207 million (against estimate of $233 million). Revenue declined approximately 9 per cent q-o-q, impacted by an 8 per cent revenue-weighted currency depreciation.” However, the good news is that Bharti has significantly stepped up capex in Africa -- by approximately 70 per cent y-o-y to $1.07 billion. IIFL also issued a ‘buy’ call on the stock, saying the decline from Africa revenues was not as bad as expected, with tax expenses and losses lower than expected. It attributed the revenue weakness to declining crude and commodity prices.

Some differ

However, for some analysts the financial performance of Bharti Airtel was below expectations. The lower-than-expected numbers could be attributed to restructuring activities in a few countries, they said.

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