New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Friday announced an 11.4 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 1,353 crore as against Rs 1,215 crore quarter-on-quarter.
The net profit jumped 98 per cent at Rs 1,353 crore for Q4FY07 from Rs 682 crore a year ago.
According to the management, the company expects a robust growth in FY08. They add that the subscriber base will be strengthened as newer markets are penetrated. Margins are sustainable at 40 per cent in FY08 though the pricing pressure remains constant.
Bharti Airtel President and CEO Manoj Kohli said the company is devising various strategies to accelerate growth. Regions like Eastern India and Jammu and Kashmir, which are traditionally low in customer base, are showing robust growth.
Affordability is the buzzword where the handset prices have been brought as low as Rs 1,200. "Our network is going deeper and this year we will be investing much more in our networks, including fiber optics across the country," he added.
The leading private telecom major added 5.3 million subscribers during the quarter while its revenues for the January-March quarter climbed 58 per cent to stand at Rs 5,393 crore.
The company, which gets the majority of its revenue from its GSM mobile users, provides services in all 23 zones in the country
and will set up 30,000 sites during the fiscal for deeper penetration in rural areas.
"We will set up 30,000 stations in 2007-08 in addition to the existing 40,000 sites. About 60-65 per cent of these will be in the rural areas. We have also revised our capital expenditure (capex) for the fiscal to $3-3.5 billion dollars," Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal said.
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