Bharti Airtel Q2 net up 87 per cent

Sources, Oct, 31: Leading mobile service provider Bharti Airtel on Wednesday posted 87.04 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,643.76 crore (Rs 16.44 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 878.84 crore (Rs 8.79 billion) for the same quarter last year.

"The quarter has seen telecom growth accelerate further clearly demonstrating that the Indian telecom market still has a long way to go to achieve its full potential. Bharti Airtel also crossed the 50-million customer mark to enter the league of the world's top telecom companies," Bharti Airtel chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

Going forward we see strong demand for telecom services across all segment and we are well placed to take advantage of these growth opportunities," he added.

The total income of the group increased 46.38 per cent to Rs 6,386.73 crore (Rs 63.87 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 4,363.03 crore (Rs 43.63 billion) for the corresponding quarter a year ago, the company said in a statement.

The standalone net profit of Bharti Airtel jumped 82.26 per cent to Rs 1,619.15 crore (Rs 16.19 billion) for the September quarter, from Rs 888.35 crore (Rs 8.88 billion) for the corresponding quarter last year.

The total revenue of the company increased 45.23 per cent to Rs 6,118.53 crore (Rs 61.19 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 4,212.98 crore (Rs 42.13 billion) for the same quarter in the year-ago period.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 1,010.25, up 1.57 per cent in early trade on Bombay Stock Exchange.>