Bharti Airtel posts 32 pc loss in Apr-Jun quarter

Mumbai, Aug 11: Suffering severe foreign exchange losses and restricted by the tight competition in India, Bharti Airtel on Wednesday, Aug 11 posted a massive loss of 32 per cent in the Apr-Jun 2010 quarter.

The profits for the quarter stood at $361 million, accounting for a decline of 32 per cent, while the revenues were 2.6 billion dollars, up 17.4 per cent against the numbers reported in the corresponding quarter of 2009 (YoY basis).

The revenue includes 23 days of its newly acquired operations in Africa, the telecom major said in a statement.

"Our business in India and South Asia got off to a solid start with robust revenue growth and healthy margins," chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

"This reaffirms our conviction that leaders emerge stronger in a hyper competitive market."

The heavy competition in India forced Bharti Airtel to explore overseas options. Therefore, during the quarter, the company acquired the operations of Kuwait's Zain telecom group in 15 African countries for 10.7 billion dollars to add to its small operations in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

OneIndia News