8
Bharti Airtel share rallied over 3 per cent in morning trade on Friday after the telecom major reported a surprise net profit of Rs 86 crore for the quarter ended December 2018.
Analysts in an ET Now poll had projected a loss of Rs 905 crore.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 306 crore during the corresponding period last year.
The telecom firm made an exceptional gain of Rs 1,017 crore (net of tax) during the said quarter, largely on account of deconsolidation of Airtel Payments Bank, which lifted the earnings.
Deutsche Bank said India mobile revenue of Bharti Airtel stablises and Africal maintains momentum.
The global firm retained a ‘Buy’ call on Airtel with a target price of Rs 390.
“While increase in network costs needs to be watched, stability in India mobile revenue and ARPU improvement is a positive sign,” Deutsche Bank said.
The company's total revenue for the quarter under review stood at Rs 20,519 crore, 1 per cent higher than Rs 20,319 crore earned during the third quarter of the financial year 2017-18.
Mobile revenues of Bharti Airtel witnessed 4 per cent year-on-year growth on an underlying basis, primarily on account of the sustained pricing pressure in India's mobile segment, it said.
Sameer Kalra, Equity Research Analyst and Founder, Target Investing said, “Results show stress of competition is creating further deportation of financials on domestic operations.
This makes cashflows even lower which results in difficulty of payments of liabilities.
Africa operations are stable but the level of debt has to reduce and further consolidation has to take place to get further benefits.
We have a‘Sell’ rating on the company.”
