Here's Why Airtel Shares Rose Despite Posting Surprise Q4 Loss Of Rs 5,237 Crore

Shares of Bharti Airtel almost 5 percent in morning trade on Tuesday despite posting a massive net loss for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-20.

Late on Monday evening, Bharti Airtel posted a net loss of Rs 5,237 crore for the March ended quarter against a profit of Rs 107.2 crore for the same period a year ago.

Bharti Airtel: Quotes, News

BSE 1212.5512.5 (-1.03%)

NSE 1216.458.1 (-0.67%)

In the quarter of review, the company took a hit from an exceptional item of Rs 7,004 crore which includes mainly of a charge on account of reassessment of regulatory cost based on a recent judgment on one-time spectrum charge (OTSC) related matter.

Apart from the one time hit from spectrum-related charges, the telco has reported healthy numbers:

• Its average revenue per user (ARPU), an important indicator for telecom companies, rose to Rs 154, the highest in the last 12 quarters, as compared to Rs 123 a year ago. Its consolidated revenue for the quarter grew 15.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 23,723 crore.
• The company had 423 million customers as on 31 March, an increase of 4.9 percent as compared to 404 million a year ago.
• Total minutes of usage on the network during the quarter were 902 billion, 13.3 percent jumped as compared to 796 billion in March 2019.
• Mobile Data traffic grew 74.3 per cent to 6,688 billion MBs during the quarter compared to 3,836 billion MBs in the corresponding quarter last year.
• The company recommended a dividend of Rs 2 per share in line with its policy of passing through dividends received from Bharti Infratel.
• The company's consolidated net debt, excluding lease obligations for the company, stood at Rs 88,251 crore as on March 31, a significant fall of 18.5 percent from Rs 108,235 crore a year ago.
• Brokerages Morgan Stanley, UBS and CLSA have maintained their bullish stance on the stock.