Bharti Airtel Shares Fall Over 4% After Singtel Reportedly Offloads Stake Worth Rs 10,915 Crore

The shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. fell 4.35% on Friday after Singtel reportedly offloaded stake worth Rs 10,195 crore (Singaporean $1.15 billion). Singtel likely sold 0.8% stake in the telecom giant, reported Bloomberg.

Singtel directly owns 7.5% stake and indirectly (via Bharti Telecom) owns 20% taking the total ownership stands at 27.5%.

Singtel, the Singapore-based telecommunications giant, holds Airtel shares through its subsidiary, Pastel Ltd. The company sold shares worth Rs 8,568 crore through block deal in May. The company had plans to sell approximately 4.76 crore shares, with the floor price for the block deal set at Rs 1,800 per share. JPMorgan, a multinational investment bank, was said to be the broker for this transaction.

Singtel has been a strategic investor in India's leading telecom provider since 2000. In 2022, Singtel divested a 3.3% stake for Rs 12,895 crore to Bharti Telecom, Airtel's holding company. Additionally, last year, it sold a 0.8% stake for Rs 5,850 crore to Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners.

Singtel has mopped up close to Rs 42,300 crore in the last three years by selling its directly held stake, according to NDTV Profit calculation, while Mittal Family has mopped up close to Rs 31,200 crore in the last one year by selling its directly held stake.

The scrip fell as much as 4.35% to Rs 2,003.80 apiece after the earnings were announced. It pared losses to trade 4.02% lower at Rs 2,010.40 apiece, as of 10:39 a.m. This compares to a 0.56% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 27.53% in the last 12 months and 26.57% year-to-date. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 5.21 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 61.80.

Out of 32 analysts tracking the company, 25 maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold,' and five suggest 'sell,' according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target of Rs 2239.69 implies an upside of 11.3%.