Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s second quarter net profit rose but missed analysts' estimates.
The country's second largest telecom company's net profit increased 37.7% to Rs 2,093.2 crore, according to an exchange filing on Tuesday. That compares with a Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 3,205.2 crore.
The telecom company said it created an additional tax provision for Rs 226.3 crore, following a Supreme Court ruling that held that licence fee paid at regular intervals should be classified as capital expenditure.
The interest of Rs 1,350 crore on the above is considered as an exceptional item in the income statement.
"This decision does not alter the total amount of variable licence fee allowed as deduction over the licence period but creates a timing difference wherein later years would have a higher deduction," it said.
In the previous quarter, the telecom service provider reported a foreign exchange loss of Rs 3,416 crore as an exceptional item in the first quarter of financial year 2024, on account of statutory changes made by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Airtel Q2 FY24 Earnings Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue fell 1.1% to Rs 37,044 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 38,096.8 crore).
Operating profit down 0.4% at Rs 19,514 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 19,916.8 crore).
Margin at 52.7% vs 52.3%.
Average revenue per user, or ARPU, rose to Rs 203 vs Rs 200.
ARPU rose on the back of sustained focus on acquiring high value customers and improved realisations.
Mobile revenue grew by 11% year-on-year on account of improved realisation as well as strong 4G/5G customer additions during the year, it said.
Other Highlights
Bharti Airtel's India customer base stands at 54 crore subscribers across 16 countries, up 2.1% from the quarter ended June. India's customer base rose 7% year-on-year to 38.94 crore.
The overall capex for the quarter stood at Rs 9,197 crore for July to September.
Shares of Airtel closed 1.3% lower at Rs 536.35 apiece as compared with a 0.32% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.
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