Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<keyword id="363206" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel-Africa" source="Orion">Airtel Africa</keyword> has reported a revenue growth of 20.6 per cent for the year FY22, to $4,714 million, and 17.8 per cent for Q4FY22. <keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword> Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa. Constant currency underlying revenue grew 23.3 per cent for the year and 19.1 per cent in Q4. Constant currency underlying revenue growth was strong in all regions -- Nigeria up 27.7 per cent, East Africa up 22.7 per cent and Francophone Africa up 17.2 per cent and across all key services, with revenue in voice up 15.4 per cent, Data up 34.6 per cent and Mobile Money up 34.9 per cent. Further, profit after tax grew by 82.0 per cent to $755 million. The Board recommended a final dividend of 3 cents per share, making total dividends at 5 cents per share for the entire fiscal. Segun Ogunsanya, Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer, said: "This is another strong set of results for Airtel Africa, demonstrating our solid execution as we continue to enrich the lives of a growing number of people through leveraging the sizeable opportunity to promote digital and financial inclusion across our markets." The company has delivered strong double-digit growth in revenues across all our regions and all our key services, with improving margins driven by strong cost control, and expanding cash generation which is enabling it to continue to invest in it's network and services and expand distribution, as well as strengthening balance sheet and increasing returns to shareholders. "We are connecting more customers in new and existing coverage areas and driving usage levels and ARPUs to new highs. We have successfully executed on a number of strategic initiatives in the year, with tower sales completed in four countries, $550m of minority investments secured for our mobile money business and a successful buyout of minorities in our Nigerian operation." SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-results-q4-fy22-profit-revenue-subscriber-growth/articleshow/91374478.cms">Reliance Jio reports its strongest profit growth in five quarters as it offloads millions of low quality subscribers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/foreign-investors-have-pulled-out-1-5-lakh-crore-from-the-indian-markets-in-2022-so-far-heres-why/articleshow/91485411.cms">Foreign investors have pulled out ₹1.5 lakh crore from the Indian markets in 2022 so far — here's why</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/what-is-the-impact-of-new-vpn-guidelines-on-users-and-vpn-providers/articleshow/91468069.cms">Indian government's VPN guidelines will impact over 270 million users as VPN providers have no option but to leave the country</a>

Airtel Africa posts double-digit revenue growth and 82% surge in net profit on the back strong cost control and increased usage levels

<ul><li><keyword id="6354287" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharti-airtel" source="Orion">Bharti Airtel</keyword> launched India’s first multiplex on the Partynite Metaverse platform.</li><li>The 20-screen multiplex will showcase content portfolios from leading OTT platforms partners.</li><li><keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword>’s latest metaverse multiplex will enable viewers to watch samples of top original shows and movies.</li></ul>One of the biggest telecom companies in India, Bharti Airtel, entered the multiplex business but in the metaverse. The company on Tuesday (June 17) launched India’s first multiplex on the Partynite Metaverse platform. The 20-screen multiplex — which is a part of Airtel’s video app Xtream — will showcase content portfolios from leading over-the-top (OTT) platforms it has partnered with. A quick scan of the website reveals that Airtel Xstream offers content from OTT platforms like Amazon Prime, Sony Liv and Eros Now. The Xstream multiplex is an extension of Airtel’s Xstream Premium offering, which added two million subscribers within 100 days of its launch. “Airtel’s Xstream multiplex provides a larger-than-life experience, which brings together Web 3.0 apps and immersive storytelling, and an assortment of content from our partners. We all know people’s love for movies and entertainment in India. Through the metaverse, we are looking to tap into a larger audience, giving content enthusiasts an opportunity to sample Airtel’s Xstream Premium offering and, thus, aiding in driving higher adoption,” Shashwat Sharma, director of marketing at Airtel, said in a statement. Airtel’s latest metaverse multiplex will enable viewers to watch samples — such as the first episode or initial minutes — of top original shows and movies. These shows or movies will be in multiple regional languages, besides English and Hindi. Viewers can get complete access upon subscription of a plan, the company added. Airtel Xstream Premium’s multiplex experience is one of the most scalable use case scenarios for the metaverse and can be used for movies, music, live events and premium sports streaming in the future, Partynite’s founder Rajat Ojha said. “Apart from the robust scope, it will also allow social engagement, open up newer methods of content delivery and, of course, provide an immersive experience at the core of it,” he added. Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 490 million customers across 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-vs-bharti-airtel-four-charts-to-showcase-how-indian-telecom-giants-faired-in-2022/slidelist/91640306.cms#slideid=91640359"> earned ₹1.17 lakh crore</a> across its several businesses in the fiscal year 2022, while its profits lingered at ₹8,305 crore. Bharti Airtel’s shares were trading at a price of ₹681 at 1:06 pm on Tuesday, representing a slight spike of 1.47% since market opening. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/adani-sells-a-fourth-of-its-green-hydrogen-business-to-frances-totalenergies/articleshow/92197541.cms" style="">Adani sells a fourth of its green hydrogen business to France’s TotalEnergies</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/burger-king-dominos-kfc-to-see-high-growth-even-as-consumer-staples-suffer/articleshow/92196523.cms" style="">Burger King, Domino's &amp; KFC to see high growth even as consumer staples suffer</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indias-richest-people-are-moving-to-uae-australia-and-singapore/articleshow/92181712.cms" style="">India’s richest are moving to UAE, Australia and Singapore — but there’s nothing to worry</a>

Airtel launches its first multiplex, but in the metaverse

<keyword id="363206" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel-Africa">Airtel Africa</keyword> on Friday reported a fall of 8.8 per cent in its net profit on a year on year (YoY) basis at $88 million for the quarter ended September. The company's revenue for the period under review was $965 million compared with $844 million earned during the July-September quarter of the last financial year. In a statement, the company said that its <keyword id="445843" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="customer-base">customer base</keyword> grew by 12.0 per cent to $116.4 million during the quarter. <keyword id="702372" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Raghunath-Mandava">Raghunath Mandava</keyword>, CEO of <keyword id="15491" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> Africa, said: "The first half of our fiscal year included the peak impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the countries where we operate in, as <keyword id="8960115" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown-measures">lockdown measures</keyword> were swiftly implemented to stem the initial spread of the contagion." He noted that in these unprecedented times, the telecom industry has emerged as a key and essential service for these economies, allowing customers to work remotely, reduce their travels, keep them connected, and allow access to affordable entertainment. "In these exceptional circumstances, in the first half, we delivered a strong set of results and as lockdown restrictions eased during Q2 our performance continued to improve with constant currency revenue growth of 19.6 per cent, up 6.6 per cent from the prior quarter," the CEO said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/trump-calls-india-china-and-russia-filthy-while-justifying-exit-from-paris-agreement/articleshow/78821267.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Trump calls India, China and Russia ‘filthy’ while justifying exit from Paris Agreement</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/gileads-remdesivir-just-got-the-first-fda-approval-to-be-used-as-a-treatment-for-coronavirus-patients/articleshow/78818920.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Gilead's remdesivir just got the first FDA approval to be used as a treatment for coronavirus patients</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-cipla-zydus-cadila-dr-reddy-laboratories-tech-mahindra-avenue-supermarts-cochin-shipyard-and-others/articleshow/78820314.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Top stocks to watch — Cipla, Zydus Cadila, Dr Reddy Laboratories, Tech Mahindra, Avenue Supermarts, Cochin Shipyard, and others</a>

Airtel Africa Q2 net profit slumps 9% amid coronavirus woes

<ul><li><keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> has posted a loss of ₹2,866 crores for Q1 FY20.</li><li>The Average Revenue Per User stood at ₹129. </li><li>In May 2019, Reliance Jio overtook Airtel to be the second largest telecom network provider in terms of user base</li></ul>Bharti Airtel has posted a loss of ₹2,866 crores for the first quarter of the current financial year. In the same quarter last year, Airtel had posted a profit of ₹97 crore. However, the company also reported a consolidated total revenue of ₹20,738 crore, which is up by 4.7% since last year. The company which has telecom operations across Africa and India, registered better in the former. Its India revenues grew marginally by 2.8%, while its African revenues went up by 10.2%. The company’s net debt now stands at ₹1,16,646 crore. Its average revenue per user or APRU which is the amount the telecom major makes per customer, stood at ₹129. The company however said that mobile data traffic growth grew by 94% since last year. “The first quarter of the year has begun with a healthy and equitable growth across all our lines of businesses. Headline pricing remained stable, albeit at low levels,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India &amp; South Asia. The total number of employees have also gone up from 21,434 in June 2018 to 19,490 by the end of June 2019. The company said that it is working on improving network coverage. “We re-farmed spectrum from 3G networks to 4G across both the 900 as well as 2100 bands and begun the process of shutting down 3G networks in India. This has enabled us to deliver improved indoor coverage as well as enhance our capacities,” said Vittal. Airtel has been dealing with the rising pressure from Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio. In May 2019, Reliance Jio overtook Airtel to be the second largest telecom network provider in terms of user base, whereas in terms of revenue it has already overtaken Vodafone Idea to hold the number uno position. Airtel lost 1.5 million users in May alone – it went from 321.8 million users in April to have 320.3 million. Its total consumer base stands at 404 million across 16 countries.

Airtel posts a massive net loss of ₹2,866 crore, as pressure from Reliance Jio rises

New Delhi, May 20 () UNICEF has entered into a partnership with Airtel Africa to provide children with access to remote learning and enable access to cash assistance for their families via mobile cash transfers amid the coronavirus pandemic, the telecom company said on Wednesday. Airtel Africa will 'zero-rate' select websites hosting educational content, which will provide children with remote access to digital content at no cost. Under this pact, UNICEF and Airtel Africa will use mobile technology to benefit an estimated 133 million children currently affected by school closures in 13 countries across sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, Airtel Africa said in a statement. "UNICEF announced a new partnership with Airtel Africa aimed at providing children with access to remote learning and enable access to cash assistance for their families via mobile cash transfers," it said. The adverse effects of school closures on children's learning are well-documented, and experts warn that gains made in increasing access to learning in the previous decade are at risk of being lost, or even reversed completely. For poor households, the pandemic means a reduced or total loss of income due to the movement restrictions in place. "Remote learning, supported by digital tools, is a core part of UNICEF's response to ensure continuity of learning for those children with access to technology at home," the statement pointed out. The partnership will also provide UNICEF with a means to facilitate vital cash assistance to alleviate financial barriers for vulnerable families across the region, including many affected by the growing socio-economic hardships resulting from suspension of income earning activities, in the wake of the pandemic. This will help ensure families have additional resources to cope with the ongoing health and economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. "COVID-19 is affecting access to information and education at an unprecedented scale," Fayaz King, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Field Results and Innovation, said adding that UNICEF is partnering with Airtel Africa to deliver better outcomes for children and families affected by widespread closures. The partnership aims to benefit children and families in 13 nations in sub-Saharan Africa. These include Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer Raghunath Mandava said, "Some effective ways to cushion families from the effects of this crisis is through providing free Internet access to selected educational websites to help children keep up with their learning during the school closures and direct cash transfer programmes to reduce physical presence requirements for cash in hand exchanges." MBI HRS

UNICEF, Airtel Africa team up to support children, families affected by COVID-19

New Delhi, May 13 () Airtel Africa on Wednesday said it will continue to invest in network and spend its planned USD 650-700 million (about Rs 4,800-5,200 crore) of capital expenditure in FY21, in line with its guidance. The company, in its detailed quarterly report, said it has "also deferred the salary review for management and employees until there is more clarity on the COVID-19 impact". "We intend to continue to invest in our network and spend our planned USD 650 million to USD 700 million of capex in the next financial year, in line with our guidance," said the company with presence in 14 countries in Africa. In management discussion and analysis of Q4 and FY20 earnings, Airtel Africa said that a detailed analysis of its planned capex indicates that in a worst-case scenario, the company will be able to reduce it significantly without compromising network quality, by prioritising expenditure. Airtel Africa senior executives said the company has been consistently spending on expanding network and modernising sites. "The current pandemic may affect the timely deliveries of capital goods. Our capex deliveries are planned ahead of time, and as a policy we carry a deployable stock of network active equipment in our warehouses. "Currently we have around USD 280 million of capital work in progress and USD 250 million of capital commitments which are expected to be fulfilled, so we have enough deployable materials in our warehouse to ensure timely roll outs across our markets," the company said. It further said that the strategy of diversifying sourcing across four major providers is also protecting it from company or country specific supply chain risk. Airtel Africa said it has agreed to extend the maturity of USD 254 million short-term loans due to mature in December 2020 and January 2021 by an average of 18 months to two years, in a bid to further improve liquidity. The company has identified ways to conserve cash, reduce costs and mitigate risks from COVID-19, it said, adding review of operating expenses has been conducted, and discretionary spend has to a large extent stopped. "We have also deferred the salary review for management and employees until there is more clarity on the COVID-19 impact. This will be now reviewed by the Remuneration Committee in June and, if required, again in September," it said. MBI RVK

Expect to spend planned USD 650-700 mn capex in FY21: Airtel Africa

<keyword id="747947" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telecom-major" source="Orion">Telecom major</keyword> <keyword id="117197" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharti-airtel-ltd" source="Orion">Bharti Airtel Ltd</keyword> has reported profit in the second quarter of current fiscal year on the back of stronger earnings from its mobile services in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> and Africa. The company on Tuesday said that its net profit for the July-September quarter of FY22 stood at ₹1,134 crore, compared with a net loss of ₹763 crore in the same period of previous year. Profit from its mobile services in India more than doubled to ₹1,612.5 crore from ₹685 crore a year earlier, and profit from its mobile services in Africa increased 40 per cent to ₹2,809 crore. <keyword id="6354287" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharti-airtel" source="Orion">Bharti Airtel</keyword> reported consolidated Q2 revenues of ₹28,326 crore, a growth of 18.8 per cent YoY on a comparable basis and 13.0 per cent YoY on a reported basis largely on account of tariff hikes and increase in subscriber base. Consolidated mobile data traffic was at 10,943 PBs in the quarter with a healthy YoY growth of 47.8 per cent. India revenues for Q2 2022 also increased to ₹19,890 crore, up by 18.3 per cent YoY on a comparable basis, and 10.4 per cent YoY on a reported basis. Mobile revenues grew by 20.3 per cent YoY on comparable basis on account of increase in ARPU and strong 4G customer addition. ARPU for the quarter came in at ₹153 as compared to ₹143 in Q2 2021 on comparable basis, validating the strategy of focusing on quality customers. The company continues to gain a strong share of the 4G customers in the market. 4G data customers increased by 26.1 per cent YoY to 192.5 Mn. Over the last 4 quarters, the company has added 39.9 mn 4G customers to its network. ARPU continues to be the best in industry, average data usage per data customer at 18.6 GBs/month and voice usage per customer at 1,053 mins/month. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/tesla-boss-elon-musks-net-worth-crosses-300-billion-for-the-first-time/slidelist/87485525.cms">Tesla boss Elon Musk’s net worth crosses $300 billion for the first time</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/former-sbi-chairman-pratip-chaudhuris-arrest-will-lead-to-policy-paralysis-say-experts/articleshow/87482347.cms">The arrest of former SBI chief Pratip Chaudhuri may prevent bankers from making any risky decisions, say experts</a>

Bharti Airtel records 13% rise in its profits in second quarter of the current fiscal year

New Delhi, June 22 () Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on Bharti Airtel's Long-Term Foreign-Currency (FC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to negative from stable, affirming it at 'BBB-'. The rating agency said the outlook change is sovereign-driven, and that projected that Bharti's 2020-21 revenue and Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) will remain robust, fuelled by improvement in the Indian wireless market and continued growth momentum in African markets, despite the effect of the coronavirus pandemic. Fitch, last week, lowered India's sovereign rating outlook to 'negative' from 'stable', saying the coronavirus pandemic has significantly weakened the country's growth outlook. It, however, retained the lowest investment grade rating of 'BBB-'. "Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on India-based Bharti Airtel Limited's (Bharti) Long-Term Foreign-Currency (FC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to negative from stable, and affirmed the IDR at 'BBB-'," it said in a statement on Monday. Fitch said it has also affirmed Bharti's senior unsecured rating and Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V.'s senior unsecured guaranteed bonds at 'BBB-', and Network i2i subordinated perpetual bond's rating at 'BB'. "The negative outlook follows our revision of the outlook on India's Long-Term Foreign-and Local-Currency IDRs to negative from stable on June 18, 2020. Bharti's FC IDR and senior issue ratings are not directly constrained by India's sovereign rating but cannot exceed the country ceiling (BBB-), which reflects the transfer and convertibility risks associated with FC obligations," the statement said. It added that should the sovereign IDRs be downgraded, the country ceiling may also be revised down in tandem, which would constrain Bharti's FC IDR and senior issue ratings to 'BB+'. "The change in the outlook does not indicate a change in our view of Bharti's underlying credit profile, but rather reflects the heightened probability that India's country ceiling could be lowered to 'BB+' , which would then constrain Bharti's FC IDR and senior issue ratings," it said. The rating agency forecast that Bharti's FY21 revenue and Ebitda growth will remain robust at around 10-15 per cent, driven by improvement in the Indian wireless market and continued strong growth in African markets, despite the effect of the coronavirus pandemic. "However, the growth will be slower than our previous expectations of 20-22 per cent, due to lower data growth and weaker economic activity amid the pandemic in India and Africa," it said. On the issue of regulatory dues payment, Fitch said it assumes the balance demand of USD 2.3 billion to be paid in its 2020-21 leverage estimates. MBI HRS

Fitch revises outlook on Airtel to negative from stable; affirms at 'BBB-'

New Delhi, Feb 5 () Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it will not buy 5G spectrum in the upcoming auction if its base price is fixed at Rs 492 crore per megahertz as recommended by the telecom regulator Trai.The company has stressed balance sheet reeling under debt of Rs 1.14 lakh crore with liability to clear statutory dues of around 35,500 crore, following a Supreme Court order in October 2019 that upheld the government's stand on calculating levies over telecom licences.Bharti Airtel chief financial officer Badal Bagri during the earnings calls, however, said that the industry is now repairing itself with hike in mobile call and internet rates, which needs to rise further and it expects a favourable outcome in the adjusted gross revenue from the judiciary and regulator for long-term growth and viability of the sector."On the 3.5 Ghz band Trai has recommended price to Rs 50,000 crore for 100 mhz of spectrum. 5G requires a large block of spectrum. 100 Mhz spectrum for 50,000 crore, we can't afford. We believe it is too high. We will not pick it up at those prices," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India and South Asia Gopal Vittal said.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended that proposed base price of proposed 5G spectrum in 3,300-3,600 Mhz band at about Rs 492 crore per Mhz unpaired spectrum on pan India basis.Telecom operators interested in buying radiowaves for 5G will have to shell out a minimum of Rs 9,840 crore on pan-India basis to buy spectrum in 3,300-3,600 Mhz band as Trai has suggested that it "should be put to auction in the block size of 20 MHz".The Digital Communications Commission, apex decision making body at the Department of Telecom, has approved the suggestions made by Trai.Vittal said that though telecom players raised mobile call and internet rates in December, the tariff needs to go up further for better return on investments."We have ARPU of Rs 135. In the end state, I think we need to see ARPU of Rs 300 in Indian telecom. I think that is when we will turn a reasonable return of capital on the overall business," Vittal said.He said that with the last round of tariff hike, the ARPU of the company will go up, but it may not be enough to give return on the investments."While our ARPU will go up in next quarter because of tariff increases, they are just not good enough. At Rs 200, we will barely be head above water in terms of return on capital. It is clearly something that we need to see moving. I cannot comment on what the timing is," Vittal said.Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea raised their services rates by up to 50 per cent in December and their rival Reliance Jio too increased tariff by about 40 per cent.The companies cited the burden of AGR dues on their books following the Supreme Court judgement dated October 24, 2019 as one of the compelling reasons to enhance tariff.Bharti Airtel's liabilities added up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charge dues.It may be recalled that for September quarter, Airtel had posted a staggering Rs 23,045 crore net loss, after provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore on account of the Supreme Court ruling on past dues.Bharti Airtel has posted a consolidated loss of Rs 1,035 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2019 with apex court ruling adding to the financial woes of the company.The company had to clear dues by January 23 but it has sought time from the DoT to wait till the outcome of its modification plea filed before the apex court seeking relaxation on timeline to clear dues."We are hopeful that we will get favourable outcome from the engagement with judiciary and regulator that will ensure long term growth and viability of the sector," Bagri said.During the October-December 2019, Bharti Airtel said that it has posted the highest ever addition of 4G customers and attributed the growth to its rival operator move to charge 6 paise per minute for every outgoing call outside the network.While overall mobile customer base of Bharti Airtel grew by 1.3 per cent to 28.3 crore on quarter on quarter basis, its 4G customer base grew by 20.1 per cent to 12.3 crore on sequential quarter basis.For just ended December quarter, Airtel's consolidated revenues came in at Rs 21,947 crore, up 8.5 per cent over the same period previous year. The India revenues for reported quarter stood at Rs 15,797 crore, 7 per cent higher over same period previous year, while Africa revenues were up 14.2 per cent. PRS BAL

Bharti Airtel will not bid for 5G spectrum at Trai recommended price: Vittal

New Delhi, Nov 14 () Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday posted a staggering Rs 23,045 crore net loss for the second quarter ended September 30, due to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues.
The Sunil Mittal-led company said the apex court judgement -- which had upheld government's way of calculating revenue of telcos (on which statutory liabilities like licence fee and spectrum usage charges are computed) -- has "significant financial implication for the company".
Last month, Bharti Airtel had postponed the release of its full Q2 earnings to November citing the uncertainty in the sector in the wake of the court ruling on definition of telecom revenues.
Airtel's colossal net loss for just-ended September quarter was on account of exceptional charge pertaining to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore towards the AGR dues, that included principle of Rs 6,164 crore, interest of Rs 12,219 crore, penalty of Rs 3,760 crore, and interest on penalty of Rs 6,307 crore.
Announcing its Q2 earnings scorecard, Airtel said its consolidated net loss before exceptional items (the one time charge) for the quarter was Rs 1,123 crore, and that the net Loss (after exceptional items) was Rs 23,045 crore.
The company had recorded net profit of Rs 119 crore in the same quarter previous year, although it said that year-on-year numbers were not comparable due to adoption of new accounting standard.
"...the liabilities / provisions as at September 30, 2019 aggregate Rs 34,260 crore (comprising of principal of Rs 8,747 crore, interest of Rs 15,446 crore, penalty of Rs 3,760 crore and interest on penalty of Rs 6,307 crore)," Airtel said in a statement.
Airtel CEO, India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal hoped that the government will take a considerate view on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter given the "fragile state of the industry".
"On the AGR verdict of the Supreme Court, we continue to engage with the government and are evaluating various options available to us," he said.
The consolidated revenue of Bharti Airtel was up by 4.7 per cent at Rs 21,199 crore in the just-ended quarter. India revenues were up 3 per cent year-on-year (5.7 per cent on an underlying basis), while Africa revenues rose 12.6 per cent over the same period previous year.
"India revenues for Q2 at Rs 15,361 crore have increased by 5.7 per cent year on year (reported increase of 3 per cent) on an underlying basis. Mobile revenues have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 7.1," it added.
Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at Rs 8,936 crore in the Q2 FY2020 against Rs 6,343 crore in the year ago period.
The Supreme Court, last month, had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer. Old telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea were supposed to take the maximum hit on the payment of statutory dues to the government.
As per latest estimates by the telecom department, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 62,187 crore (including share of Tata Group of companies and Telenor India), while Vodafone Idea may have to pay about Rs 54,184 crore. The remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and some of the shut/bankrupt telecom companies.
The Supreme Court has allowed three months to the affected telcos to pay amounts due to the DoT, and on Wednesday the government shot off notice to telecom operators to pay their revenue share dues within the timelines stipulated by the court. The department has given option to telecom operators to clear all the dues on self-assessment basis.
Airtel's net debt narrowed year on year basis to Rs 1,18,106.5 crore. 
"Despite being a seasonally weak quarter, we witnessed positive revenue growth in Q2 on the back of various initiatives aimed at providing superior differential services through our 'Thanks' platform. We continue to witness strong data traffic growth of about 81 per cent year-on-year and added about 8 million 4G customers on our network during the quarter," Vittal said. 
Bharti Airtel shares closed at Rs 362.65 apiece, down by 1.59 per cent compared to previous close on the BSE.
The results were announced after market hours. PRS MBI BAL

Bharti Airtel posts staggering Rs 23,045 cr net loss in Q2 after AGR provisioning

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:382px"><div class="image"></div>Citi</div>MAMADOU NDIAYE grew up in Senegal. His parents were "not poor, but not rich". He was fascinated by mathematics, which he studied at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and then taught for several years in Côte d’Ivoire, saving to pursue his dream of studying in America.
He went to New York, where he worked at Staples, an office-supplies chain, to finance his masters in statistics at Columbia University. A customer, impressed by Mr Ndiaye’s sales advice, suggested that the Senegalese apply for a job with his own employer, IBM. That was 15 years ago. Now Mr Ndiaye is back home, as manager of the office Big Blue opened in Dakar last May.
The office in Senegal is just one sign that IBM believes <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword> will bring in billions. It is no newcomer: it sold its first gear there to South Africa’s railways in 1911 and a mainframe computer to Ghana’s central statistics bureau in 1964. Lately it has been paying special attention to the continent.
In July 2011 it won a ten-year, $1.5 billion contract to provide Bharti Airtel, an Indian mobile-phone company, with information-technology services in 16 African countries. Since mid-2011 it has set up shop in Angola, Mauritius and Tanzania, as well as Senegal. In all, it boasts a presence in more than 20 of Africa’s 54 countries. Last August it opened a research lab in Nairobi, one of only 12 in the world. And between February 5th and 7th Ginni Rometty, its chief executive, and all who report directly to her met dozens of African customers, actual and prospective, in Johannesburg and the Kenyan capital. It was, Mrs Rometty said, the first time the whole top brass had assembled outside New York since she became the boss just over a year ago.
Big Blue may be ahead, but it is not alone. Last month Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, spent a week in sub-Saharan cities. He enthused about Nairobi, which, he wrote, "has emerged as a serious tech hub and may become the African leader." Orange, a French mobile operator, and Baidu, China’s answer to Google, recently introduced a jointly branded smartphone browser in Africa and the Middle East. Orange also sponsored this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, a football tournament, in South Africa. (Nigeria won it, beating Burkina Faso in the final on February 10th.)
This month Microsoft, which has offices in 14 African countries, unveiled a smartphone to be sold in several African markets. It is made by China’s Huawei and uses Microsoft’s new operating system.
In Kenya Microsoft intends to bring broadband to places that do not yet have electricity, using solar power and "white spaces", or spare broadcast-television frequencies. Within a year, says Fernando de Sousa, the general manager for Microsoft in Africa, 6,000 people in the Rift Valley will have access to broadband. Similar projects are planned elsewhere. Since October Microsoft has been running "app factories" for programmers in Egypt and South Africa.
Mark Walker of IDC, a research firm, says that in the past three or four years multinational companies have adopted a "completely fresh approach". They have "a lot more skin in the game: investing in local people, so there’s proper knowledge transfer, investing in country offices." Companies are in it for the long term now, rather than quitting after a bad quarter or two.
Africa’s chief attraction is that it has been growing while richer regions have stalled (see chart 1). Its demographic prospects are promising, too. As America, Europe and China age, Africa can expect a bulge of workers in their productive prime. Though skills are in short supply, they are becoming more abundant. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the consulting firm’s research unit, in 2002 only 32% of Africans had secondary or tertiary education, but by 2020, 48% will have. The continent can call on degree-laden expatriates such as Mr Ndiaye and Uyi Stewart, the Nigerian chief scientist of IBM’s Nairobi lab.
Some countries are better off, more stable or simply keener than others to make the most of IT. Kenya may be keenest. In 2006, frustrated by the slow progress of a regional plan to lay a fibre-optic cable along the east coast of the continent, Kenya negotiated its own link to the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf cable landed in 2009. The regional link, in which Kenya remains a partner, followed the next year.
<h3>The lion’s byte</h3>
Bitange Ndemo, a bigwig in the Ministry of Information and Communications and the man responsible for the cable from the Gulf, says he wants to see a rise in IT’s share of Kenyan GDP from about 5% now to 35% "within a very short period". He hopes for a mighty shift of employment away from agriculture. "But politicians must have the will," Mr Ndemo says.
If they are to create new markets and to profit from them, technology companies have to be on the spot. John Kelly, IBM’s head of research, says that after the firm set up labs in China in 1995 and in India in 1998, "we found that we were getting innovation out of those research labs which could only have occurred in those locations." The Indian lab, for example, produced the "spoken web", for illiterate people with cheap phones.
One of the Nairobi lab’s early challenges is traffic. The city has few traffic lights or cameras; hence the awful congestion. Signals from motorists’ mobile phones can help to track traffic, but planners have few data to work with. IBM’s lab will harness other sources, such as security cameras that are not aimed at the road but capture images of it anyway. IBM will then crunch all the data to help planners control traffic and decide where to build more roads.
The Nairobi lab is expected to earn its keep quickly. The Chinese and Indian labs, Mr Kelly says, took ten years to make a significant contribution technically and commercially. Kenya’s target is five. He says the lab has made a good start, drawing on work by an older sibling in Tokyo to tackle its traffic problem.
In many sectors, such as health care, education and water, as well as traffic, governments are sure to be important customers for IT companies. But private clients matter too, especially in telecoms and finance. The mobile phone, the first computer many Africans will own (see chart 2), is the bridge between the two.
To Westerners, "mobile banking" is a new way of doing something old. To many Africans, it is the obvious way of doing something new. In Kenya M-PESA, a system of transferring money over phones, is an everyday, reliable utility. Equity Bank, a fast-growing bank, most of whose customers have never had an account before, has come of age with mobile technology: its chief executive, James Mwangi, says his customers can use any of its 54 products on the move. For technology companies, all this means a growing demand for many things: reliable connectivity; software; analysis of data on spending, lending and repayment; and data centres.
Technology companies say they are keen to serve smaller businesses too. Microsoft has announced a programme called SME4Afrika, which is intended to bring 1m small and medium-sized enterprises online. Mr de Sousa points out that technology can also draw informal businesses into the formal economy. The ability to use software, computing power and storage online "as a service", paying only for what you need and only when you need it, may put the cost of information technology within the budget of many small African businesses. "The person who invented the cloud did it for Africa," says Mr Ndiaye of IBM in Senegal.
Mr Kelly makes a bolder claim, linking Africa’s emergence to that of "big data". IBM’s answer to how the world can cope with the rising torrent of exabytes is "cognitive computing". Instead of being given detailed instructions, cognitive computers are fed masses of data and use statistical analysis to answer complex questions. Watson, IBM’s first of this kind, was clever enough to win "Jeopardy", an American television quiz show, beating human champions hollow. The true purpose of a Watson, however, is not to show off on television but to sift data from radio telescopes or provide medical diagnoses.
<h3>From Jeopardy to epidemiology</h3>
Mr Kelly sees an opportunity "for Africa to move, and move first, to this new era of computing." It can leapfrog straight to the tech frontier, without worrying about adapting old systems to cope with the data it creates. At the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, which will eventually be the new lab’s home, a Kenyan asked Mr Kelly, "Will you bring Watson to Africa?" Yes, he replied, if someone suggests a problem for it to solve. Mr Ndemo spoke up: "Let us bring Watson here in nine months." Africa has plenty of problems. Computing power can help Africans solve them.
Click <a href="http://www.economist.com/products/subscribe/CUR22/noreg">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist

You Searched For "Airtel Africa earnings" and got 11 results

Airtel Africa posts double-digit revenue growth and 82% surge in net profit on the back strong cost control and increased usage levels

IANS

Airtel launches its first multiplex, but in the metaverse

Kritti Bhalla

Airtel Africa Q2 net profit slumps 9% amid coronavirus woes

IANS

Airtel posts a massive net loss of ₹2,866 crore, as pressure from Reliance Jio rises

Sanchita Dash

UNICEF, Airtel Africa team up to support children, families affected by COVID-19

PTI

Expect to spend planned USD 650-700 mn capex in FY21: Airtel Africa

PTI

Bharti Airtel records 13% rise in its profits in second quarter of the current fiscal year

IANS

Fitch revises outlook on Airtel to negative from stable; affirms at 'BBB-'

PTI

Bharti Airtel will not bid for 5G spectrum at Trai recommended price: Vittal

PTI

Bharti Airtel posts staggering Rs 23,045 cr net loss in Q2 after AGR provisioning

PTI

IBM And Google Have Discovered A Massive New Market Opportunity

The Economist

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides