Bharti Tele Q1 net leaps on higher customer base

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, India's second-largest mobile services firm, said on Friday quarterly profit soared as its subscriber base doubled and customers chatted more to take advantage of falling call rates. Bharti, 28 per cent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and India's largest listed telecoms firm, said its consolidated net profit was Rs 2.96 billion ($64 million) in the first quarter ended June 30. That compared with a profit of Rs 310.3 million a year ago. Bharti, one of the earliest entrants in India's flourishing mobile industry -- now the world's fastest growing major wireless market -- had reported a consolidated profit of Rs 3.04 billion in the fourth quarter. Bharti, which has a market value of about $6.6 billion, said this month its mobile user base surged 105 per cent year on year to 7.67 million, while its total customer base, including fixed-line subscribers, doubled to 8.38 million. Bharti's shares have gained 6.5 per cent since March, outperforming a 9.6 per cent fall in the Bombay Stock Exchange index. Company to spend $700-750 on phone network Bharti will spend between $700-750 million in 2004-05 to gain a nation-wide mobile footprint, its joint managing director Akhil Gupta, told reporters on Friday. Gupta also said that any shareholder could offer his shares in the proposed 200 million foreign share offering that the company plans to sponsor.