Airtel profit falls for eleventh quarter

Bharti Airtel has reported its eleventh straight quarter of declining profit, due to tax expenses and ongoing intense competition.

India's largest mobile operator posted a profit for the September quarter of 7.21 billion rupees ($133 million), down 29.8% from a year earlier.

Tax expenses increased 57% due to a dividend distribution tax on a dividend from its stake in tower JV Indus Towers. Before tax, profit declined only 3% to 14.72 billion rupees.

By contrast, revenue grew 17.4% to 202.7 billion rupees, led by strong growth in mobile data revenues in India. But Indian voice revenues were depressed in a result attributed to seasonal weakness.

The operator's African operations showed signs of continued improvement, with revenue from the continent growing 29%, and its customer base across the 17 markets growing 21%.

But the segment still ultimately generated a net loss of 5.39 billion rupees for the quarter.

Despite the quarter's mixed signals, managing director Sunil Mittal appears encouraged by the results. “I am pleased to see that our overall revenue growth has sustained through diversified segments and geographies as well as the continuing healthy demand in data services,” he said.

“Our African operations continue to reflect sustained and steady growth on all major parameters of revenues, profitability and cash flow.”