Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,436.5 crore (Rs 14.36 billion) in the third quarter of 2014-15 on the back of continued growth in mobile data revenue.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 610.2 crore (Rs 6.10 billion) in the same period a year ago.
Total revenue of Bharti Airtel grew by 5.8 per cent to Rs 23,228.1 crore (Rs 232.28 billion) in the reported quarter compared to Rs 21,960.7 crore (Rs 219.60 billion) in the same period last fiscal.
"We remain focused on driving topline through stepped up customer acquisitions with continued focus on churn, ensuring pricing stability, and path-breaking innovations in mobile data. Our mobile data growth is at 74.3 per cent in third quarter," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India and South Asia Gopal Vittal said in a statement.
India revenues of the company registered a growth of 12.6 per cent on yearly basis. Revenue from Mobile grew by 13 per cent, Telemedia by 13.2 per cent and from Digital TV by 15.8 per cent.
Mobile voice realisation in India improved to 37.67 paise per minute, up by 0.45 p year-on-year basis, the company said.
Mobile Data revenue at Rs 2,114 crore (Rs 21.14 billion) registered a growth of 74.3 per cent on yearly basis in India, uplifted by increase in usage per customer by 38.3 per cent and data (internet) customer base by 32.4 per cent.
Mobile data revenues contribute to 16.2 per cent of Mobile India revenues compared to 10.6 per cent contribution in the corresponding quarter last year, the company said.
Africa revenues of Bharti Airtel grew by 3.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in local currency terms, but the reported revenues were down by 5.3 per cent due to appreciation of the US dollar, the statement said.
Data revenues stood at $116 million with growth of 34.9 per cent Y-o-Y, led by increase in data customer base by 38.1 per cent and higher usage per customer by 22.6 per cent.
Data revenues contributed to 10.5 per cent of overall Africa revenues compared to 7.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.
"We have maintained our focus on growing customer base and topline in a cost-efficient manner. Significant depreciation in most African currencies especially the Nigerian Naira has however depressed the reported results in dollar terms," Bharti Airtel Africa MD and CEO Christian de Faria said.
Overall customer base of the company stood at 31.29 crore across 20 countries at the end of reported quarter.
Shares of Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 367.85, down by 1.08 per cent compared to previous close, at the Bombay Stock Exchange.
