Missing Estimates: Bharti net down 63% at `284 cr

Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest telecom operator, on Tuesday saw its consolidated net profit declining 62.6% on a sequential basis at `284 crore, missing analyst estimates, mainly due to higher finance cost. The company had also booked an exceptional gain of `440 crore during the preceding quarter.

At `4,082 crore, net finance costs were up 5.8% on a quarter-on-quarter basis and 30.4% on a year-on-year basis, largely on account of increase in average outstanding borrowings.