Bharti Airtel shares dive on weak profits

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile phone firm, yesterday reported a bigger-than-expected 22 per cent plunge in quarterly profit from a year ago, hit by debt charges and 3G network rollout costs.

Net profit dropped to Rs10.1 billion (Dh748.9 million) in the three months to December from a year earlier on revenues which climbed more than 17 per cent to Rs184.77 billion, the company said.

The profit fall marked the eighth straight quarterly drop for New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel in India's fiercely competitive mobile market.

Bharti shares tumbled by over 6 per cent after the profit announcement that was far below analyst forecasts of Rs13.6 billion before retracing slightly to trade down 5.5 per cent at Rs357.90.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, the billionaire chief of India's largest mobile phone company by subscribers, called the revenue growth "healthy" and said Bharti was focusing on an "ever-increasing demand for data".

The company is expecting turnover to increase from non-voice sources following its rollout of high-speed third-generation (3G) networks.

"We are now seeing traction in that 3G market, the process is getting oiled," Sanjay Kapoor, chief executive officer for India and South Asia, told reporters.

The profit tumble came despite the company's first increase in call rates in at least two years after competition among the 14 players had pushed tariffs down to less than one cent a minute.