Bharti Airtel shares fell as much as 2.74 per cent on the National Stock Exchange to intraday low of Rs 324.30 after its net profit rose 29 per cent in January-March quarter to Rs 107.2 crore on account of an exceptional gain of Rs 2,022 crore. In the same quarter last year, Bharti Airtel had reported net profit of Rs 82.9 crore. Analysts polled by news agency Bloomberg had expected the Delhi-based telecom company to report loss of Rs 966 crore. On the BSE, Bharti Airtel's share price fell as much as 2.56 per cent to Rs 324.85.
Bharti Airtel's revenue from operations stood at Rs. 20,602 crore for the quarter, up 6.22 per cent compared to the year-ago period.
The company in January-March quarter spent Rs. 145.50 crore towards operating costs on network re-farming and up-gradation program, the filing added.
For financial year 2019, Bharti Airtel's net profit more than halved as it fell 62.7 per cent to Rs 409.5 crore compared with Rs 1,099 crore in financial year 2018 as it faces tough competition of Reliance Jio which has disrupted the telecom industry by offering aggressively priced data and voice calling recharge plans.
As of 1:06 pm, Bharti Airtel shares traded 1.68 per cent lower at Rs 327.80, underperforming the Sensex which was up 0.24 per cent. Bharti Airtel shares witnessed higher volumes than usual as 4.10 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE compared with an average of 2.98 lakh shares traded daily in the past two weeks.
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