Telecom major Bharti Airtel has suffered a net loss of Rs 1,035 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2019, against a net profit of Rs 86 crore in the corresponding period last year as it provisioned for the interest component of its statutory AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues.
The December quarter marked the third straight quarter of losses for the company, which had logged a net profit of Rs 86 crore a year ago.
Airtel said the previously reported material uncertainty on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern “no longer exists” after it successfully raised Rs 21,502 crore.
Airtel’s consolidated revenues in the third quarter came in at Rs 21,947 crore, up 8.5 per cent over the same period previous year.
The India revenues stood at Rs 15,797 crore, a rise of 7 per cent, while Africa revenues were up 14.2 per cent.
Shares of Airtel closed 1.72 per cent higher on the BSE at Rs 519.10 apiece.
“The net exceptional charge of Rs 1,050 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 comprises a charge on account of interest on the provision of licence fee and spectrum usage charges recorded in the quarter ended September 30, 2019 of Rs 1,048 crore pending disposal of the modification application before the Supreme Court,” Airtel said.
The Supreme Court, in October last year, had upheld the government’s position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual AGR (adjusted gross revenue) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fees to the government.
Bharti Airtel CEO and MD — India and South Asia — Gopal Vittal said that while the tariff revision undertaken in December 2019 was a welcome step towards repairing the financial health of the industry, the company believes the tariffs must go up further for enabling the industry to invest in emerging technologies such as 5G.
Mobile revenues have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 9.6 per cent led by a strong focus on quality customers, Airtel said.
Mobile 4G data customers increased about 60.6 per cent to 123.8 million compared with the corresponding quarter last year.
Average revenue per user has increased to Rs 135 from Rs 128 a year ago.
In a statement, Airtel said: “Mobile revenues have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 9.6 per cent led by a strong focus on quality customers, Airtel said.
Mobile 4G data customers increased about 60.6 per cent to 123.8 million compared with the corresponding quarter last year.