Airtel up 2.3% in early trade after posting profit in Q3

KOLKATA: Shares of Bharti Airtel jumped 2.33 per cent to Rs 623 in early morning trade Thursday on BSE a day after the Sunil Mittal-led telco returned to the black, posting a net profit of Rs 854 crore in the October-December period after six straight quarters of losses, helped by a one-time gain relating to the merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers and strong addition of data users which led to record revenue.

Airtel’s December quarter revenue at Rs 26,518 crore was up 24.2 per cent on-year. It added 14.2 million users – the most in four quarters – and subscribers moved to higher-paying plans, helping drive up average revenue per user (ARPU) to a three-year high of Rs 166, from Rs 162 in July-September. India’s second largest telco posted a profit helped by a one-time gain of Rs1151.7 crore, as compared with losses of Rs 763 crore in the July-September period, and Rs 1,035 crore a year ago.