The Hindu : Business : Bharti's net crosses Rs. 1,000-crore mark

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

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Business

Bharti's net crosses Rs. 1,000-crore mark

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. Announcing that the company has crossed the one-crore subscriber mark, Bharti Tele-ventures Ltd. today declared that it has posted a smart year-on-year increase in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2004. The company not only earned a net profit of Rs. 373 crores in the quarter (Rs. 161 crroes in the same quarter in 2002-03) but also crossed the Rs.1,000-crore net profit mark in the first three quarters of the current fiscal.

Interestingly, for the first time, the company also netted 10 lakh subscribers during the quarter while its market share in all-India GSM mobile subscribers stood at 26.3 per cent. Total revenues for the quarter went up by 70 per cent to Rs. 2,153 crores while its earning before interest and depreciation and taxation also grew by 65 per cent to Rs. 780 crores. The cash profit from operations was Rs. 761 crores, a growth of 90 per cent.

Revenues for the nine months were up 66 per cent at Rs. 5,717 crores while its net profit for the same period was Rs. 1,002 crores against Rs. 286 crores in the same period last year. The company also had more than one-crore customers comprising 98 lakh mobile and 8 lakh broadband and telephony customers as of December 31, an increase of 75 per cent in the total customer base.

Commenting on the results and performance, the Chairman and Group Managing Director, Sunil Mittal, said: "Bharti's strong performance during the quarter is a result of its resolve to be as the most preferred provider of telecom services. The roll out of our mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand has taken Bharti a step closer to an all-India footprint.''

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