Airtel shares down 1.7%; Q1 net profit down 63% on-quarter

Kolkata: Bharti Airtel shares fell almost 1.7% in Wednesday morning trade to Rs 570.65 on BSE, a day after the Sunil Mittal-led telco’s consolidated net profit fell nearly 63% sequentially to Rs 284 crore in the June quarter, with its India wireless business dragged by Covid lockdowns that led to the company losing users, even as consumers at the lower end of the market spent less on calls.

The telco’s net profit in the fiscal first quarter fell also due to a sharp slowdown in 4G net user adds during the Covid second wave. The telco’s ARPU, a key performance parameter, crept up to merely Rs 146 from Rs 145 in the March quarter.