Bharti Airtel net bleeds 76.5% as Jio undercuts

Bharti Airtel, country's largest telecom player, has posted 76.5% decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 343 crore for the quarter ended September this year, after disruptive pricing unleashed by new player Reliance Jio.

For the same quarter last fiscal, the net profit stood at Rs 1,461 crore. The revenues declined 11.7% to Rs 21,777 crore during July-September quarter from Rs 24,651.50 crore in the year-ago period.

Since the entry of Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio in the telecom sector last year, the existing players have seen a massive tariff war leading to declining margins and profits for them.

"The financial stress in the industry continues due to double-digit revenue decline and will be further accentuated by the reduction in IUC (interconnect usage charges) rates in the next quarter. This will eventually force operator consolidation and exits as the industry has witnessed in the recent past," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

"Airtel remains committed to its goal of increasing revenue market share in this competitive environment by providing superior customer experience and strategically investing behind building more data capacities," Vittal said.

The standalone revenues for the quarter just ended, at Rs 21,777 crore, represented a year-on-year drop of 10.4% (reported drop of 11.7%) on an underlying basis (that is adjusted for Africa- and Bangladesh-divested operating units and tower assets sale).

India revenues for the September quarter at Rs 16,728 crore have declined 13% over the year ago period, led by mobile drop of 16.8%. Mobile market continues to experience value erosion and financial stress led by competitive pressures, according to the company.

The company s consolidated net debt rose to Rs 91,480 crore against Rs 87,840 crore in the previous quarter. Net debt excluding the deferred payment liabilities to the telecom department and finance lease obligations increased by Rs 2,554 crore sequentially in the quarter, the company added.

Bharti Airtel's net interest costs increased to Rs 1,905 crore compared to Rs 1,603 crore in the same quarter last year on account of lower investment income. "The forex and derivative loss for the quarter was at Rs 422 crore compared to loss of Rs 302 crore in the corresponding quarter last year," it said.

The telecom industry has shaken up since the entry of a new player Reliance Jio. Since then, the industry is in a consolidation phase where Vodafone and Idea Cellular have announced a merger, Airtel has acquired Telenor and wireless business of Tata Group, RCom and Sistema Shyam have completed merger of their wireless business. It is moving to a scenario where only three private telecom players apart from the government-owned BSNL/MTNL will survive.

TARIFF WAR

• Net debt excluding the deferred liabilities to the telecom department, finance lease obligations increased by Rs 2,554 cr
   
• Airtel’s net interest costs increased to Rs 1,905 crore over the same period of previous fiscal