Airtel Q2 net profit jumps to Rs 1,134 crore helped by one-time gain, revenue up 5.5% q-o-q

Kolkata: Bharti Airtel swung to a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,134 crore in the September quarter from a year-earlier loss, helped by a one-time gain from spectrum rights transfer to Reliance Jio Infocomm, reduced finance costs and strong operating performance at the India mobile business.

Its fourth successive quarter in the black after six straight losses, the September quarter profit was about four times Rs 284 crore posted in the April-June period. Airtel made a loss of Rs 763.2 crore in the year-ago period.

Strong India mobile revenue growth was driven by tariff hikes in July in the base prepaid voice and postpaid corporate user segments, which propelled average revenue per user (ARPU) growth at India’s second-largest telco, said analysts.