Bharti Airtel Transfers Entire 69.94% Stake In Airtel Payments Bank To Subsidiary

Bharti Airtel Ltd. has transferred its entire 69.94% stake in Airtel Payments Bank to its wholly owned subsidiary, Airtel Ltd. The company announced the transaction in an exchange filing on Tuesday, stating that the move is part of an internal reorganisation and will have no impact on the ownership or management of the bank.

The company said the transaction has been approved by all necessary regulatory and corporate bodies. 

“This is to inform you that the shareholding of 69.94%, held by Bharti Airtel Ltd. in Airtel Payments Bank Ltd., is being transferred to the company’s wholly owned subsidiary (i.e. Airtel Ltd.), post receiving requisite regulatory and corporate approvals,” Bharti Airtel said in the filing.

The company clarified that the transfer of shareholding falls under related party transactions and will be executed on an arm’s length basis. However, the filing did not specify the exact date for the completion of the transaction, only mentioning that it will be done “as may be agreed between the parties.” The consideration for the transfer will also be based on arm’s length valuation, as per the company’s disclosure.

Separately, Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 14,781.2 crore for the October-December quarter of the current financial year, marking a sharp increase from Rs 3,593.2 crore in the previous quarter. The profit also came in significantly higher than analysts’ estimates of Rs 5,023 crore, according to Bloomberg data.

The surge in profit before tax was largely driven by a net exceptional gain of Rs 7,545.6 crore. During the quarter, Airtel expanded its network infrastructure by rolling out approximately 5,200 new towers and 16,300 mobile broadband stations to improve coverage and customer experience.

In addition, Airtel added 6.5 lakh fixed wireless access customers during the quarter, taking its total base to 92 lakh. The telecom company also made a prepayment of Rs 3,626 crore towards deferred liabilities related to spectrum acquired in 2016. With this prepayment, Airtel has now fully paid off all spectrum dues that carried interest rates higher than 8.65%.

Airtel also highlighted that its anti-spam tool, rolled out earlier, helped notify close to 25 crore unique customers as part of efforts to curb spam and improve network quality.

(With text inputs from PTI.)