Bharti Airtel rallies on rejig of African operations; top Sensex gainer

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Ltd rallied as much as 1.5 per cent in trade on Thursday after the telecom major said it that has restructured its Africa operations into four business units and appointed key executives effective April 1, in a renewed push towards turning around the unprofitable business.

At 09:30 a.m.; Bharti Airtel was trading 1.2 per cent higher at Rs 318.45. It has hit a low of Rs 312 and a high of Rs 319.15 in trade today.

The company, which is India's No. 1 mobile-telecom operator and the fourth-largest globally, will divide its operations in 15 countries into two groups, while keeping Nigeria and Congo DR as separate independent units.

The heads of the business units will report to Christian de Faria who will take on the role of managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti's Africa operations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

ET had reported that Bharti was reshaping its African business, which accounts for 30% of the telecom company's overall revenue, into clusters based on market position.

"The new strategy will be a change from its existing set up where the company has separate divisions for Anglophone, Francophone and Nigeria markets," ET reported.

The move to divide the operations based on where the company is either leader or second leader and not on linguistic or cultural similarities will allow Bharti to go bring vigour into the business in markets where it lags behind competition, added the report.

In the markets where it leads, the company can work towards solidifying its position, said an analyst with a leading consulting firm who asked not to be named.