Bharti Airtel rallies over 8% as Q1 numbers beat estimates

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Ltd surged over 8 per cent in the morning trade on Wednesday, after the telecom major reported a 9.6 per cent fall in the quarterly profit on higher costs and foreign exchange losses.

At 11:15 am, Bharti Airtel was trading 7.3 per cent higher at Rs 345. It has hit a low of Rs 312.70 and a high of Rs 347.60 in trade today.

The world’s fourth-biggest cellular carrier by customers said its net profit fell to Rs 689 crore for its fiscal first quarter to end-June, from Rs 762 crore reported a year earlier.

Despite the decline, the results beat expectations. Analysts had expected the company to report a net profit of Rs 657 crore, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

The current fall in quarterly profits marks the 14th consecutive quarter of declining profits for the country’s top telecommunications carrier.

Analysts expect the stock to remain sideways at least for some time post the results. The stock has risen a little over 10 per cent in its run-up to results so far in the month of July.

Bhavesh Gandhi, Telecom Analyst, IIFL, is of the view that Bharti Airtel is below their estimate though one caveat here is the profit number PAT would include foreign exchange fluctuation.

“Broadly in the short term, the stock should move sideways post the results,” he added.