Bharti Airtel Hits Upper Circuit of 10% On Posting Highest-Ever Quarterly Revenue

Bharti Airtel shares hits upper circuit of 10 per cent at Rs 476.30 on the BSE after the Sunil Mittal-led telecom company reported a revenue of Rs 25,785 crore in the July-September period - its highest ever in a quarter, boosted by higher tariffs and a rise in data usage from a coronavirus-fuelled shift to remote working. At 9:50 am, the shares of Bharti Airtel had frozen at the upper circuit of 10 per cent at Rs 476.30, up Rs 43.30 or 10 per cent on the BSE, after opening the session at Rs 446.40.

In a regulatory filing post market hours on Tuesday, the private sector company said its net loss narrowed to Rs 763.2 crore in the second quarter of current financial year, compared to Rs 23,044.9 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Bharti Airtel's revenue jumped 22.02 per cent in the September quarter, compared to Rs 21,131.30 crore in the year-ago period. The jump in revenue comes at a time when the country's telecom sector is grappling with low tariffs due to a price war that ensued after billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio entered the space.

Bharti Airtel said its ARPU or average revenue per user - a measure of profitability - improved to Rs 162 per month in the July-September period, from Rs 157 in the previous quarter and Rs 128 in the three-month period ended September 30, 2019.

The telecom operator's 4G data customers rose by 1.44 crore to 15.27 crore in the quarter ended September 30. Airtel said its digital services are now among the strongest in the country, with 16 crore digitally-engaged users, as it continues to enable customers and businesses to remain connected during the coronavirus crisis.

The BSE Sensex was at 40,437.06, lower by 102.56 points or 0.21 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 11,865.80, down 21 points or 0.23 per cent at the time.