Bharti Airtel reports strong Q4

January 22, 2017

India’s top mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, has reported its third quarter results, with profit up 25% on year.

Net income for the three months ending 31st December 2017 was 21.6 billion rupees ($442 million), compared to 17.2 billion rupees in the year ago period.

Total revenue increased 38% on year to 96.3 billion rupees.

The company added 8.17 million new users in the quarter, due to expansion of services across rural areas.

This is compared with 5.31 million new users for nearest rival Reliance Communications Ltd.

“Bharti Airtel continues to lead the telecom growth story adding customer and revenue market share despite intense competition,” said chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal.

“Bharti’s strategy of extensive roll out ahead of competition, especially in new villages, has yielded rich dividends,” he added.

Bharti has a 24.7% market share in India with 88 million subscribers. Its shares gained 6.2% following the results report.