Bharti Q1 Net Down 37%

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti Airtel or the Company) today announced its audited consolidated IFRS results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Revenues in Q1 on a consolidated basis at ` 19,350 crore grew by 14.0% over the corresponding period last year, marked by growth of 31.5% in Africa and a strong 44.2% increase in India Mobile Data revenues. EBITDA margin at 30.2% was depressed due to the adverse regulatory and tax developments in India, enhanced market participation and planned accelerated investments in both India and Africa. Consequently, the Consolidated Net Income came in at ` 762 crore (Q1FY12: ` 1,215 crore). The Consolidated Operating Free Cash Flows for the quarter was healthy at ` 2,273 crore which represents an increase of 67.4% over the corresponding period last year. The Net Debt - Equity ratio was at 1.38 (Q4FY12: 1.29) and Net Debt - EBITDA ratio was held at 2.54 (Q4FY12: 2.56).

Mobile revenues in India during the quarter were impacted by two significant changes : i) TRAI guidelines around processing fees restricted the sales of combo packs which offered bundled service propositions to augment customer value. ii) The service tax hike from 10.3% to 12.36%, effective 1st April 2012, causing all telecom services to become dearer by nearly 2%, with the entire additional levy being passed through to the exchequer.

Africa revenues grew by 31.5%, driven by strong operational performance in the last year and favourable currency movements. However, economic and currency headwinds are presently evident in key markets, as a result of the eurozone crisis, lower aid and grants, rising inflation and political issues in some countries. With this in mind, the company intensified market operations, advertising, network rollouts, as well as new growth initiatives such as 3G, airtel money and Rwanda.

In a statement, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited, said: Telecom revenues in India have been depressed due to hyper-competition and recent regulatory & tax developments. I am happy to note that, despite these adverse developments, Airtel has kept its focus on network expansion, market investments, superior customer experience and new product innovations. I am also pleased to see that India data pick-up is accelerating with over 38 million customers and mobile data revenues up 44%. On the African side, we are gaining market share, benefitting from the significant investments made in the last two years.

Bharti Airtel Ltd.