Bharti Airtel's net profit drops 72% in Q4 2016-17

Mumbai, May 9 :  Bharti Airtel's net profit dropped by 71.7 per cent to Rs 373 crore in the fourth quarter of 2016-17 as compared to Rs 1,319 crore in the corresponding period in previous fiscal with the mounting competition from Reliance Jio, a company statement said on Tuesday.

"The sustained predatory pricing by the new operator has led to a decline in revenue growth for the second quarter in a row. The telecom industry as a whole also witnessed a revenue decline for the first time ever on a full year basis. 

"The deteriorating health of the industry was compounded by the tsunami of incoming voice traffic from the new operator as a result of which significant investments had to be made just to carry the incoming traffic on our network," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, said in a statement.

"Our long term commitment to provide the best experience to our customers continues to drive all our actions in every single aspect of the business. This belief coupled with brilliant execution of our people has led to acceleration in market share in an industry that is now rapidly consolidating," he added.

The company's overall customer base in the fourth quarter stood at 372.4 million across 17 countries, up 8.5 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2015-16.

The consolidated total revenues in the quarter ended March 31, 2017, was at Rs 21,935 crore, down 8.8 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2015-16.

Bharti Airtel's India revenues dropped by 7.1 per cent, while it gained in the African market with 2.6 per cent increase in revenue.

For the full financial year 2016-17, its net profit dropped by 37.4 per cent to Rs 3,800 as compared to Rs 6,077 crore in the previous fiscal.

Its consolidated total revenues for 2016-17 stood at Rs 95,468 crore, up 1.1 per cent as compared to 2015-16.

The company's consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for 2016-17 was at Rs 35,621 crore, up by 4.3 per cent as compared to 2015-16.

"Acquisition of Telenor operations and Tikona's business further strengthens the pan India spectrum footprint," the company said in a statement.