Telecom company Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted a net profit of Rs 343 crore for the July-September quarter, a decline of 76.5% year-on-year. The company had earned Rs 1,461 crore in net profit in the July-September 2016 quarter.
In an exchange filing, the company said its total revenue fell to Rs 21,777 crore, a decline of 11.7%, from Rs 24,651.50 crore in July-September 2016. The company’s India revenue declined 13% year on year to Rs 16,728 crore. Airtel’s consolidated net debt rose to Rs 91,480 crore against Rs 87,840 crore in the first quarter of 2017-’18. Airtel’s revenue has fallen due to the tariff war in the telecom market, generated by Reliance Jio unveiling new tariffs.
“The financial stress in the [telecom] industry continues due to double digit revenue decline and will be further accentuated by the reduction in Interconnect Usage rates in the next quarter,” Bharti Airtel India and South Asia Managing Director Gopal Vittal said. He added that there would be a consolidation of telecom operators in the market in the coming months, and some companies would exit.
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