Bharti Infratel Q1 Results: Profit Rises Despite Lower Rental Revenue
Net profit rose 8.4% sequentially to Rs 704 crore.
Bharti Infratel Ltd.’s quarterly profit rose despite lower rentals and modest tenancy additions.
Net profit rose 8.4% sequentially to Rs 704 crore in the quarter ended June, according to its exchange filing. Analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg had pegged profit at Rs 737 crore.
- Revenue fell 3.3% to Rs 3,505 crore—lower than the Rs 3,587-crore estimate.
- Operating profit rose 6.4% to Rs 1,807 crore.
- Margin expanded to 51.6% from 46.9% last quarter.
- Tenancy ratio stood at 1.82 from 1.84 earlier.
Rental revenues for the telecom tower operator fell sequentially, largely due to the residual impact of the exit of two key tenants—Vodafone India Ltd. and Idea Cellular Ltd.—after their merger.
The company has remained relatively sheltered from the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s no significant impact on its financial position or performance, it said in its quarterly report. “While rollouts were impacted partly in the quarter due to nationwide lockdowns, we’re now running its business and operations without any major disruptions.”
Other Highlights
- Total towers rose by 430 to 95,801 during the quarter.
- Total co-locations, however, declined by 366 to 1,74,216.
- Bharti Infratel saw 1,228 tenant exits during the quarter on a gross basis. This includes 3,474 co-locations for which actual exits haven’t yet happened.
Shares of Bharti Infratel closed 1% lower, ahead of the results, while the benchmark BSE Sensex ended trade 0.5% up.