Bharti Infratel Q1 Net up over 67% at Rs 357.6

New Delhi: Bharti Infratel, the tower arm of telecom major Bharti Airtel, Monday reported a 67.6 percent jump in net profit at Rs 357.6 crore for the first quarter ended June 30 on increased sharing on tower sites and one-time gains from merger its subsidiary with Indus towers.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 213.4 crore in the corresponding period last year.

During the quarter, the Delhi High Court has sanctioned the merger of Bharti Infratel Ventures Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary with Indus Towers, effective June 11, 2013.

As a result of the merger, the net profit was higher by Rs 35 crore while the revenue from operations was lower by 50 crore during the reported quarter, the company said in its quarterly report.

Bharti Infratel owns 42 percent in Indus Towers along with Vodafone which also owns 42 percent and Idea which has the remaining 16 percent stake.

The total income of the company during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,622 crore as against Rs 2,416.6 crore for the same period a year ago.

"We are pleased that our results demonstrate and reaffirm our robust business model, whereby despite relatively low capex deployment by operators in the current quarter, we had significant incremental financial gains from increased sharing of our infrastructure," Bharti Infratel Vice Chairman and Managing Director Akhil Gupta said in a statement.

The company's total tower base stands at 82,321 as on June 30, 2013, while the average sharing factor or tenancy ratio is 1.91 during the same period.

The company's EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) for the reported quarter stood at Rs 1,055 crore as compared to Rs 886 crore during the same period last year.

With "regulatory environment showing signs of settling down" and focussed roll out approach by new operators and indications of plans to roll out 4G during the year, the company expects deployment and infrastructure sharing to pick up in the coming quarters.

During the quarter, the company utilised Rs 35 crore out of the Rs 3,165.7 crore it raised in the IPO in December 2012.

The company plans to utilise the whole amount for its expansion plans over a period of three years commencing April 1, 2013. The balance amount of Rs 3,130.7 crore has been deployed in mutual fund investments.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 145.05 apiece, down 2.39 percent on the BSE.

PTI