Faced with Reliance Jio's onslaught, Airtel's Q2 profit nosedives 77%

New Delhi: Hit by disruptive pricing of newcomer Reliance Jio and the resulting tariff war, Bharti Airtel -country's largest telecom company, posted 76.5 percent plunge in consolidated net profit to Rs 343 crore for the September quarter, on Tuesday.

The fortunes of operators such as Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have been battered by sharply discounted plans and free services offered by Reliance Industries` Jio telecoms unit, backed by India`s richest man Mukesh Ambani, that was launched last year.

Airtel had posted net profit of Rs 1,461 crore for the July- September quarter of last fiscal.

It's total revenue fell 11.7 percent to Rs 21,777 crore during the second quarter of 2017-18, from Rs 24,651.50 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated revenues for just-ended quarter, at Rs 21,777 crore, represented a year on year drop of 10.4 percent (reported drop of 11.7 percent) on an underlying basis (that is adjusted for Africa and Bangladesh divested operating units and tower assets sale), Airtel said.

India revenues for the September quarter at Rs 16,728 crore have declined by 13 percent over the year ago period, led by mobile drop of 16.8 percent.

Net debt excluding the deferred payment liabilities to the Telecom Department and finance lease obligations increased by Rs 2,554 crore sequentially in the quarter, Airtel added.

Bharti Airtel's net interest costs increased to Rs 1,905 crore compared to Rs 1,603 crore in the same quarter last year on account of lower investment income.

The shares of the company closed at Rs 497.65 a piece, up by 0.98 percent over the previous close on BSE. The second quarter earnings announcement came in after market hours.