Bharti Airtel net up 29%, closes gap with Reliance Jio in wireless segment

Bharti Airtel posted a 29 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 107 crore for the quarter ended March 2019 even as the Street had anticipated a loss in the range of Rs 700 crore. The company said the jump was mainly due to gains from exceptional items.

The high point in the third-largest telecom company’s results was its domestic wireless numbers. The business grew 4.1 per cent sequentially at Rs 10,632 crore — showing Airtel has narrowed the gap with Reliance Jio in this segment. Jio had posted standalone revenue from operations at Rs 11,106 crore in the quarter ended March 2019, up 7 per cent QoQ.

Airtel, however, lost its second position to Jio in the quarter, as the latter’s subscriber base expanded. Vodafone Idea continued to be the country’s largest telco.