Bharti Airtel The Biggest Surprise Of Q1

Bharti Airtel Ltd. has surprised the most in the quarter ended June.

India’s largest telecom operator beat earnings estimates by the widest margin as its newest rival Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. started charging subscribers after six months of free services.

Its better-than-expected earnings came during a period when 60 percent of its Nifty 50 peers missed forecasts. Bharti Airtel reported adjusted earnings per share of Re 1, 49 percent more than the consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

Cipla Ltd. follows, beating estimates by 34 percent with an adjusted EPS of Rs 5.08.

Cement makers ACC Ltd. and UltraTech Ltd. and oil refiner Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. complete the top five. While higher sales helped ACC and UltraTech, better margins aided IOC.